Brothers In Arms
by Sweet Sorrow 93
Summary: I never truly understood the meaning of brotherhood until I had met these men. We were thrown together in volatile circumstances, expected to fight for one another in order to survive. We are a unit, a family; we live, laugh, cry & possibly die together.
1. Chapter One: We Stand Alone

**Disclaimer: any recognisable characters, places or situations, including the TV show Band Of Brothers are not mine and are the property of their respective owners. All original characters and content are however mine. Feedback is appreciated, constructive criticism not just criticism please. Not sure if I'm going to carry on with the story or if I'll delete it as I do not want to disrespect the relatives and friends of the real men and heroes of Easy Company. Anyway thanks for reading enjoy! :-)**

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**Chapter One: We Stand Alone**

July 1942 Camp Toccoa Georgia

Atrocious bosses and hard labour were two things that I was familiar with after my parents' death. Despite my past experiences nothing fully prepared me for this, training as a paratrooper with my fellow-men of Easy Company. Each of us with our own personal reasons for joining the fight in the war, mine mainly the $50 bonus we get, as well as the challenge of it of course, both physically and mentally. We were thrown together at Camp Toccoa in July 1942, we were mostly young guys; I had not met anyone over the age of thirty. We all came from different backgrounds some of the men are well-educated, others like me no so much. Education had to take a backseat when my brothers and sisters were going hungry; I was the head of the household after my parents died. As with any company in the army we were expected to train, live, fight and potentially die with each other. During the days of grueling training we started to form a bond as a unit, I feel one of the main contributing factor for this bond was one man, our disdain towards 1st Lieutenant Herbert Sobel. He was a man who could rub anyone the wrong way. He was a pompous buffoon that nobody liked. One prime example of the idiotic man was right now, I would bet my bottom dollar that he will find some bullshit wrong during the inspection.

I stand in the second line of men, glancing at my fellow friends who are waiting rather impatiently for Sobel to arrive, the heat becoming increasingly unbearable, flies and mosquitos constantly buzzing around us, the occasional man swatting them away. We have only been at camp for about a week and I'm already missing my life back home the increasingly louder footsteps of boots distract me from becoming too homesick, looking to the left slightly I see the owner of the boots, Sobel. He strides towards the rows of waiting men wearing his beloved jacket, Sergeant Evans in toe.

"You people are at the position of attention!" his shrill voice breaks through the silence. I can only imagine the internal groans and swear words everyone was saying. Swearing had become an everyday occurrence since arriving here, yes I had sworn before coming here however it seemed as if every other word here was a curse.

"Private Perconte, have you been blousing your trousers over your boots like a Paratrooper?" so he's chosen Perco to be his first victim. Frank continues to look straight ahead at the lieutenant.

"No sir."

I switch off at this point already sick of hearing Sobel's bullshit what I can gather is that he chews

Perco out about creases in his pants and ultimately revokes his weekend pass, like he always seems to do lately. He picks on Luz next though I'm not listening to him anymore; I focus on the small hum of a fly that has decided to bother me. I only tune back into the conversation to hear Sobel revoke yet another man's pass. Sobel moves along the group once more staring meticulously at each member until he stops directly in front of me a look of disgust on his face.

"Name" he demands aggressively whilst for some strange reason glancing at my ears.

"Larsen James W sir" I answer

"Private do you bathe regularly?" did he really just ask that?

"Yes sir" I reply slightly pissed off.

"Well private you do not do it correctly, you have dirt behind your ear pass revoked" well he has officially sunk to a new low in my eyes. I have most certainly cleaned behind my ears; my mother was always obsessed with cleanliness, as she always said "cleanliness is next to godliness". In my sulking state I tune out Sobel's nit picking once more, I can't bear to hear him any longer, the only parts I catch are him revoking Lips pass, him calling Malark private bullshit and can only assume he revokes his pass. The last person he put under the spotlight is Lieb, he revokes Lieb's pass due to a rusty bayonet. I hear him knock Joe's knife on his helmet, then proceeded to the front of the group holding Liebgott's bayonet in the air as if he was presenting it to us.

"I wouldn't take this rusty piece of shit to war and I will not take you to war in your condition!" He yells and throws the blade into the dry muddy ground, the tip landing at an angle; I wish it landed on his foot instead. He continues his shouting. "Now thanks to these men and their infractions every man in the company who had a weekend pass he lost it" once again I can only imagine the groans that everyone was suppressing following that announcement, weekend passes were like gold dust. After a dramatic pause and a sweeping glance Sobel speaks again. "Change into your P.T gear we are running Currahee." F-ing great another run up that hill.

Sobel walks off and Winters steps up telling us to fall out and that we have two minutes, with that everyone sprints into the barracks to throw on our shorts and white T-shirts. When we make it inside everyone is scrambling to change. Martin seems visibly pissed off at Frank. They start to argue loudly over Franks trousers. Me, Joe and Malarkey watch them fight for a moment before turning to each other.

"He's such a shit, my bayonet wasn't rusty at all" Joe grumbles lowly next to me as he pulls on his shirt, Lieb was very much like me when it came to his anger he has a short temper as it is but his fuse is ten times shorter when it comes to Sobel. Nodding I throw in my thoughts on the matter.

"Yeah well apparently I'm dirty, complete and utter bullshit!" I exclaim making my distaste of the man clear, Malarkey looks over to us with a look of agreement to my statement.

"Talking of bullshit that's what my name stands for, the bastard. He is lieutenant bullshit more like" a number of the men around us nod in agreement.

The hatred was strong towards that man today, if we could harness this emotion and use it against the Krauts then in my opinion the war would be over very quickly. When they are finished dressing they make their way outside Liebgott leading whilst I stay back to slip my shirt on, I notice White sat on his cot, not wearing PT uniform, I think he's decided to quit, I don't blame him but I'd never leave something unfinished, once I start I have to end. By the time I get out of the cabin I am near the back of the group, I push past the soldiers from the others companies as they make their way to the mess hall, lectures or to the movies. They often piss us off with their comments about us running and doing extra training, they always have more free time than us, but we will see who lasts longer when it comes to the war.

We set off with Sobel leading the group towards the bane of my life. Currahee. It apparently means we stand alone; all I know is that it is hell. If I was to imagine hell it would be this. No I'm not exaggerating, 3 miles up and 3 miles down as well as we stand alone have become Easy's mottos of late. The mountain, well technically hill but it may as well be a mountain towers over the cabins of the base; it is a constant reminder of what we have to face nearly every day. The tall evergreen and pine trees densely coat its incline mud and rock paths cut through the terrain. I remember the first day here I was stood next to Tip, we both looked up at it and he turns towards me and says "I'll bet that when we finish the training program here, the last thing they'll make us do will be to climb to the top of that mountain" his face was priceless when a few minutes later a whistle was blown and we were ordered to dress in P.T and run to the top and back down. That was only a week ago yet with all the training we've been doing it seems so long ago. Many of the men who we met on that day left after that, they couldn't cope with the demanding physical nature of the training. I can see a number of the ones who are still here leaving before we get our jump wings.

The pace was set steady and is fast for the average person but we aren't average, we are the best of the best. It seems that today's 'infractions' have made Sobel push us harder than normal. The atmosphere far quieter than normal, not many people speak, or sing, we just focus on the task in hand, running up the steep grassy, rocky ground and running back down again. Sobel would often yell one of his many obnoxious and ridiculous catch phrases such as "high yo silver" or "the japs are coming to get you" he thought that the latter would motivate us to run faster, it never really did, one of the main reasons why we would try to run faster was to escape having to spend too much time with him, as well as the strong competition between many of the men, some of which were athletes during their college and high school days. It didn't take long for me to jog past some of the slower guys, not that I'm fast, now Winters is fast; he normally makes it to the top first. I had caught up to Don and skip by this point.

As we were running up a particularly rocky part my feet and ankles began to hurt. Skip was running directly in front of me when he landed awkwardly on a rock causing him to go over on his ankle and twisting it badly, as he was falling to the ground we all rushed to help him out however Sobel thought otherwise.

"Do not help that man!" He orders. Some people follow his command but others like me subtly attempt to pull him up, we manage that without any hassle from Sobel for disobeying orders as he had returned to his annoying yelling of his catchphrases. When I eventually make it to the top Winters is their obviously having reached the summit first his was shouting words of support, I wish he had Sobel's place instead he'd make such a better leader.

"Come on Jimmie you can do it!"

I flash him an exhausted smile as it slam my clammy hands onto the cool stone at the top then preceded the steep descent.

If we thought running the mountain normally was tough then boy we were in for a shock when we ran it in our full gear with guns in hand the next day. That was unbelievable, I thought I was going to die during that, the only thing that kept me going was the shouts of support from the others, mainly Winters once again. Sobel was working us like dogs.

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We are now on a late night March in full gear under the instruction that we cannot drink from our canteens or smoke. I'm not sure if Sobel paid attention in officer school but I was under the impression that water was vital and dehydration was bad, but hey I'm no doc but Sobel seems to think he is. Marching at the back of the group I could not fully hear the conversation between bull and Winters, all I managed to hear was some laughs after they had exchanged words. When we first started the night marches they were 11 miles in length and we wore our P.T gear, with each day we added extra items of uniform, which brings us to todays 12 mile march in full combat clothing rifle in hand. Focusing on the task in hand I resist the urge to drink water, God I wish I could smoke now as even if I was allowed to I couldn't, I'm out of smokes, I shouldn't have gambled them away, now Luz had two of my cartons of Lucky Strikes.

Once the march was over Sobel makes us stand in line in front of him whilst we pour all of our precious water onto the parched ground. It pained me to watch every last drop fall. Everyone's canteen continued to empty apart from one, it finished emptying far quicker than the others and he had noticed this and was looking very pissed off. Christenson didn't follow Sobel's orders; he had drunk some of his water. We all knew the consequence of this was re doing the exercise. Sobel order him to start running now. The poor bastard looked like he was about to keel over. Sobel then pulls Winters to the side and starts to yell at him, Sobel gesturing to us every now and again. Sobel stalks off and Winters announces that all weekend passes are revoked. We were dismissed. I made my way to my cot changing out of some of my gear. Exhausted after a day of lectures, calisthenics, the obstacle course and the night march, today was Friday and we had some free time now for the first time in a while.

Some of the other guys were in the bunk house milling around, talking in their little groups of close friends, reading magazines, reading and writing letters or playing cards. Luz was in the middle of dealing out the cards to Don, Skip, Tab and Perco when he notices me.

"You want in?" he asks a knowing grin on his face.

"George you know full well that I have nothing left for you to take so if you ask me one more time in the next three weeks I think I'll have to kill you" I half-heartedly joke, resulting in a loud eruption of laughs from the group, even Luz was laughing. That's what I like about good old George Luz he could take a joke, another reason why I like Luz is his uncanny ability to impersonate anyone, his usual favourite is John Wayne, but it seems today he has a different person in mind.

"Well if you're going to kill someone, do it simply" he says putting on his best Cary Grant impression, sounding remarkably close to the actor's voice.

"Yeah, yeah whatever Luz just get back to your game" shaking my head and smiling at him as I head towards my footlocker to retrieve some reading material. Luz turns back to the group of gambling men and continues dealing them in.

I settled down to read, well view my Titter magazine. After looking at it for a while the urge to smoke was beyond bearable especially when everyone else had lit up. Searching relentlessly in my pockets and footlocker for about five minutes I give up, I don't have any. That's when Tipper and Liebgott walk in and sit at their beds.

"Hey tip, Joe, can I have a smoke?" I ask

"No that's what you get for being shit at gambling Jimmie" Lieb shoots back as he puts a stick into his mouth and lights it with his lighter. If I wasn't so exhausted from today's exercises then I would've jumped up and grabbed the cigarette out of his mouth.

"Yeah sure have two" oh thank god for Tipper. Thanking him whilst accepting the smoke I relish it. I've never wanted a cigarette as much as that in all my life.

I carried on looking at my magazine for a while, the other fellas doing whatever they were doing up until Winters enters the room. We all snap up and salute he salutes back.

"At ease gentleman, McDonald, Toye, Perconte, Lipton, Muck and Guarnere can I have a word with you outside please" he addresses the group.

The guys all stand up and share questioning glances then follow the redheaded officer out the door, almost immediately the rest of Easy go back to their original positions and continue to talk, laugh and play.

"I wonder what he wants to speak to them about?" Tipper asks me from his place on his bed directly to the left of me.

"Probably punishment for some infractions or some shit like that" Lieb cuts in from his bed opposite us. My craving for smokes getting the better of me now regretting not taking up Luz on his gambling offer though Tip was kind enough to give me two, they're not going to last long. Thinking on my feet feeling that was the perfect opportunity to win some more cigarettes back.

"Yeah Joe's probably right, it normally is about that, I wager this cigarette that it'll be mess duty." I exclaim as Joe and Tipper smirk at the fact that I was gambling my last smoke again.

"I'm not taking any part in this bet and neither should you Jim considering your gambling luck recently" Tip laughs as he shakes his head at my antics.

"Fine I'll bet you a whole carton that they'll be on latrine duty" Lieb boldly states.

Now I have to win I need those smokes and he knows it. I nod in agreement to the terms just as the men return through the door, each with pissed expressions. I hear them complain about Sobel and punishment for infractions, my face breaks out into a smile at this; I can already taste those Lucky Strikes. They make their way to their footlockers and beds, I was about to ask what punishment it was going to be when I hear Bill explain to his best friend.

"Goddammit latrine duty is shit, literally" Gonorrhea grumbles out loudly to Joe Toye who is situated down the other end of the long rows of beds.

"Jesus Christ" my face dropping considerably. A loud cackle of laughter can be heard coming from my two pals.

"Hand it over Jimmie" Lieb manages to spit out a smug smirk painted on his skinny face.

"Fuck you!" I throw the cigarette at him, he winks and sticks it between his lips and lights it. He breathes the smoke in deeply sighs and leans back on his bed, clearly glad that he won the bet and that he didn't have to surrender his full carton.


	2. Chapter Two: Zim-zam, goddamn

**Just a quick note to say thanks to those who have read this, followed and or faved, I didn't expect anyone to read it so thank you it means a lot to me. I hope I'm not boring or rushing the story with this chapter and that the guys aren't out of character I struggle with that, also I'm going to go back and edit this and the first chapter when I can in the near future, anyway thanks for reading and enjoy :-D**

war sage: Thanks for taking the time to read and comment it made my day :-)

Luckynumber28: Thank you so much for such a positive and lovely comment, I never expect anyone to read my work let alone like it so this makes me very happy! Yes you noticed that I have read the book ;) well I'm currently half way through its a really fascinating read, it really helps to flesh out the TV series, anyway hope this chapter isn't too much of a disappointment :-)

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Chapter Two: Zim-zam, goddamn, we're Airborne Infantry

August 1942 Camp Toccoa Georgia

"Larsen you're up next" Sobel commands. We were currently in an afternoon mock jump training exercise. Planes constructed out of wood that were painted to look like the real shebang had been constructed throughout the camp recently. They're designed to prepare us for the impending jump training. A tall tower was also built with a series of pulley systems, each man would attach themselves to the rope and would jump down, the rope and pulleys taking their weight resulting in a realistic experience almost like actually parachuting, well that's what the instructors told us but until I jump properly myself I won't believe them. We weren't in the tower today though we were on one of the training planes closer to the ground; this one was only a few meters high, its purpose was to help us practice our landings. Ever since we've started our pre jump 'jump' training there have been a number of accidents, many men have injured their ankles, knees and legs, and some have broken bones. I managed to twist my ankle severely on the first go at the tower; running up Currahee was murder for a week.

"Yes sir" I say as I walk towards the opening designed to replicate a door. I get into position and push myself off of the wooden platform landing a bit harshly but with no real damage done; I step off to the side, Sobel speaking to me as I walked.

"Private you would have had a broken ankle if that was a real jump. Sergeant Lipton you're next" he turns his attention towards Lip as he jumps down. I stand scowling at Sobels comment, admittedly the landing wasn't perfect but it would not have resulted in a broken bone. I stand amongst the some of the other guys watching the rest jump and receive feedback from Sobel.

"Do you think jumping is really like this?" Malark asks the small gang of us that were stood slightly away from the others. Me, Skip, Muck and Blithe all turn to him.

"I don't know but Sobel says it is so I assume so" Blithe answers as his attention turns toward the jumping men once more.

"Yeah but what does Sobel know about this shit" I exclaim "He couldn't find his way out of a paper bag let alone jump out of a plane."

"I don't know but all I know is that we better be getting our wings soon, I can't stand being here much longer, if we have to do anymore push-ups in calisthenics I might mishear coords in mortar training when Sobels around" Muck says in a serious tone. Me, Malark and Skip burst out laughing whilst Al simply smiles.

"Did you see Sobel yesterday, he couldn't get past 20, he looked like he was going to die" I manage to spit out between laughs.

"I know we all did well over 35 there he was doubled over yelling at us to do more, I swear that man is useless" Skip manages to say when he finally stopped laughing.

Later that day long after the training had finished I was sat at my bunk with an envelope in hand. Many of the men around me were also holding and reading mail. Most like me and Lieb, who was also reading his mail had one or two in total Tip however had many. It never ceases to amaze me how popular that man was. Leaning back my elbows resting against the hard mattress I peel open the envelope the familiar cursive penmanship scrawled onto the cream paper. Reaching inside pulling out two sheets of paper each with distinctive handwriting written on both, I start to scan over the first piece of paper, the writing far more jumbled compared to that on the envelope, a few sentences scratched out here and there. Spelling mistakes a plenty. A small smile appeared on my face. Daniel had written to me.

_Dear Jimmie,_

_How is basic training going? Do you know when you're going to get your jump wings? Have you learnt how to shoot yet? Do you have a gun? What type of gun is it?_

_Polly and I went to the movies it was neat, I wanted to see Wake Island but she wanted to see Bambi. You always told me that I should treat a girl right so I thought I would keep her happy by letting her choose the picture, admittedly Bambi was good, just don't tell any of the fellas that, I would never live it down. Betty, Veronica and Mary are really missing you. Well we all are though Thomas won't admit it to anyone, Peter asked him if he missed you but he didn't answer, he left the dinner table and went outside to the old wooden swing, he sat there for two hours, it wasn't until John came home from work did he return to the house, not saying a word to anyone since other than that we are coping well without you, Ray told me to tell you not to worry about us as you need to focus on training in order to kill the Japs or Krauts for us, he also told me to keep this letter short as he said you wouldn't have time to read an odesise odyssey whatever that is._

_I hope you write back to me soon._

_Your brother and friend,_

_Daniel_

Letting out a sigh my face drops slightly, thinking about my siblings at home made the homesickness I had managed to quell increase tenfold. Stumping out my old cigarette whilst placing a new one in my mouth lighting it with a match I take one long drag, savouring the small piece of release it gave me.

"What's got you looking so glum Jimmie?" Lieb asks from his bed, having finished reading his letter he was now flicking through my magazine.

"This letter from my youngest brother Danny he says my other brother Tom is missing me and won't talk to anyone, I think I pissed him off by joining he thinks I should have stayed at home and looked after them, I don't think he is happy about the fact that he is now the eldest left at the house so he's in charge." I explain. Lieb looks thoughtful for a moment before replying.

"I'm sure he'll come around eventually, he'll step up and take responsibility and look after everyone at home for ya, don't worry they'll cope, if they are anything like you are they'll be fine" I give him a small smile and a nod in response to his advice, he was right they would be fine without me.

"Yeah I suppose, it's just strange for me not being there for them but I guess your right they'll be fine"

It was me who was struggling to adjust to life without them, the guys have been helping greatly, and I wouldn't know how I'd cope if they weren't here.

"Who's the other letter off your girl?" Joe says with a smirk as he lights up, he, Luz and a few others have been joking about my sweetheart; I had shown them a photo of her and a letter she wrote to me last year and they have been infatuated with her since. I don't blame them mind, she is a hell of a person, and she's a looker. I'm dam lucky to have managed to convince her to marry me. Ever since id seen their faces after looking at the photo of my girl I decided that they shan't be reading anymore letters from her in the near future. Not that I'm jealous or anything, the main reason was that I like the fact that she is mine and only mine. In a place like this where everything was shared including a shower having something just for my eyes was a godsend, something a can savour and turn to when Sobels bullshit get me down.

"Yes it is from my girl and no you can't read it before you ask. Who'd you get mail from?" I ask intrigued.

"Just my mom telling me that I should try to find a nice respectable woman to settle down with. She thinks that I'm getting too old to be a bachelor. I don't think she realises that I joined the army to fight in the war not find a wife" Joe smirks as I let out a hearty laugh; Lieb turns his attention to a picture of a very busty dame while I turn my attention back to my other correspondents.

Folding up Danny's letter I slip it back into its envelope, unfolding the cream paper of the second sheet the familiar black swirling handwriting making me feel a surge of ecstasy and melancholy simultaneously.

_To My Dearest Jim,_

_I hope that you are well and that the training has not been too strenuous, Danny wished to send you a letter after he saw me writing this so we both decided that it was easier to send them together in the same envelope, with me writing the address out seeing as his handwriting would result in the mail being sent to the wrong place. My apologies if this letter is short I have to go to work soon and need to mail it before my shift. I would have written a twenty page letter if I could but Danny was insisting on sending his instantly, next time I'll make it longer I promise._

_I have missed your company greatly. I often find myself lost in thought at work, thinking about you. I have been spending some time round your house making sure that everything is fine and that Danny doesn't burn the place down. I've been helping with the cooking and cleaning but the girls have always managed to do that by themselves so my services aren't really required but I like to feel as if I'm of use to them whilst you're gone. My brother has enlisted, he is off to training next week, he could be shipped off to where you're going, and maybe you'll see each other when you finally ship out. Do you know when you will be finished with training?_

_Stay safe please and write back quickly._

_All my love_

_Esther_

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November 1942 Camp Toccoa Georgia 

We repeated the cycle of lectures, physical training and Sobels bullshit for the next few weeks. By this point we were all becoming extremely competent in our specialist fields. I could now handle my M1 with ease even with the 16 inch bayonet attached; we were told when we first received our weapons that we should treat them like our wives, gentle and with care which I have done since. Winter was fast approaching and our minds were turning to the jump training we would need to complete to receive our wings. We still weren't sure when it was happening but we had a feeling it would be in the next two months. Thanksgiving was approaching this week and everyone was bored with the food we've been eating. I don't know what was worse the K rations we have been eating during exercise and which we are expected to live on in the field or the mess hall food. Both are pretty inedible. One morning after a grey gloopy mess of a breakfast we completed the obstacle course in full combat outfit guns and all but this time a lovely surprise waited for us, after stumbling a few times we reach the barbed wire section, instead of just mud like normal however, this time pigs guts had been scattered around the place. By the time we'd completed it we were covered head to toe in blood and entrails and we stank to high heaven. We had mere minutes to shower and change before we had to attend afternoon lectures. The only positive of the laborious lessons were that we got to sit down in a nice warm room for some respite from the cold, wet outdoor exercise activities.

Half way through one of the guys I wasn't really close to was pulled out of the room, I think his name was Park; he never came back to the lecture, the last time that happened it meant that they had been kicked out of the company by Sobel. I keep expecting that to happen to me, the fella hates me so much that he is constantly trying to kick me out. Ever since the time I was two minutes late for training he has picked on me. I will never forget that punishment. He made me dig a trench with my entrenching tool, the trench had to be a particular size and depth which I can't remember the dimension now but what I do remember is having to fill it all back in again instantly. I have never been late since, nearly always arriving o time or whenever possible fifteen minutes in advance. Speaking of Sobel, Sobel and the other officers of our company didn't take the lecture with us. When we return to our cots after hours and hours of training and learning we realise why the officers were missing. Sobel had conducted a foot locker inspection and many of the men were very displeased of the outcome including me.

"Oh goddammit he's taken my magazine" I angrily speak up after looking into my footlocker and finding the most up to date publication of Titter had been removed.

"Yeah well at least he didn't throw all your letters over the damn floor and confiscate some including a letter from my mom" Tipper says as he scrambles around the floor collecting his mail.

"Aw shit most of my condoms have been confiscated"

* * *

The next morning we found out that Sobel had been promoted to Captain whilst Winters had been promoted to 1st lieutenant, I'm sure this annoyed Sobel considerably, Winters deserved this promotion he in my opinion was a born leader. We were also told that we were having a light day with no running or obstacle course. Classroom based lectures where scheduled instead, map reading and first aid were always more interesting than that goddam mountain. I could see why the exercises had been canceled torrential rain had settled on top of the camp overnight causing a deluge of water falling from the heavens. In addition to this news we were also told that a special meal was going to be served in the mess hall at lunch. After three hours of map and compass reading lessons we all filed into the cabin forming a single file cue eagerly awaiting the special grub. That special meal was spaghetti and was served to us under the supervision of Winters. Sobel had been a dick and put him in charge of mess duty. After grabbing my tray laden with pasta I make my way to my usual table and sit down. I could hear Bill and Frank grumble about the meal, calling it spaghetti and tomato ketchup and claiming it to be a sin to call it spaghetti. I couldn't care less if it was authentic or wholesome; all I cared about was that we could finally enjoy food without having to run drills. I turn my full attention to my plate I was probably looking at it like it was the most wonderful object in the entire universe and that it was the first time I had seen food, I had never really been a fan of pasta but right now it looked and tasted amazing, weeks of eating shut could do that to you. We were eating like wild animals, shoveling plates down rapidly, mopping up the sauce with pieces of bread, all table manners thrown out of the window. I was on my third plate, yes third plate when Sobel burst into the room yelling that lectures were cancelled and that we should change into our trunks and shirts to run the dreaded mountain.

"I feel sick just thinking about this, Sobel is such an ass" Tip groans as we are changing.

"Yeah he is such a dick, it's gonna be a sea of red vomit" I say a hint of bitterness present. Tipper and Don, who was stood near by, nod in agreement.

"Thanks for the lovely imagery James" Martin testily says as he walks past us fully dressed and ready.

Lieb walks towards the three of us "Come on fellas let's get it over with" with that we leave the nice dry warmth of the bunk house, each man severely regretting eating so much food mere moments earlier and so begins the infamous vomit run.

Running up the steep terrain on a rainy day was tough enough but running it with stomachs full of spaghetti was gruelling. The rain creating large puddles in the uneven ground the odd stream flowing rapidly at the side of the pathways. Sobel was up to his usual business of bothering several men telling them that they could leave and end this hellish day, they all ignored him. He told Bull on several occasions that an ambulance was waiting to take him and that he didn't have to finish. Bull rightfully ignored his yelling whilst keeping his head high and focusing on each, no doubt painful steps. The ascent had quickly turned into a vomitorium. Many of the men, me included had up chucked the contents of our stomachs, causing rather brightly coloured stains on our white shirts. Sobel even picked on me a few times telling me that I didn't belong with these men and that I was weak and a burden. Taking a leaf out of Bulls book I tried to ignore the oafs' words and keep my head high and focus on each step, as each step was one step closer to our goal and one step closer to those jump wings that we all wanted so bad. Even though we looked disgusting, smelt disgusting and felt disgusting but we weren't going to let that stop us from completing the task. Even though the atmosphere was as gloomy as the stormy weather we managed to stay strong. Luz ever the funny man of the group decided to lift our spirits with a song, we all joined in with the singing and I had a feeling that we would all return to base having successfully showing Sobel that we deserved our place in Easy company as we are the best men around and we would do anything to get our wings.

"We call upon the risers, we call upon the grass! We never land on our feet, we always hit our ass! Hi-hi, Christ almighty, who the hell are we? Zim-zam, goddamn, we're Airborne Infantry!"


	3. Chapter Three: We Stand Alone Together

**Hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for all the feedback :-)**

war sage: Thanks, he has seven siblings in total 4 brothers 3 sisters :D

arahadi: Thanks for commenting its greatly appreciated. I have started to read the books you suggested and have found them really interesting, thanks for pointing them out to me, if you hadn't have told me about them I would have never started to read them. I used Winters and Wild Bills books to help write this chapter :D

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**Chapter Three: We Stand Alone Together**

Friday November 27th 1942 Camp Toccoa Georgia

It wasn't long after the infamous vomit run up Currahee were we told that we were moving out and that basic training was complete. This pleased many, me included it meant that we could finally start training to become a true paratrooper. Most of the men had grown tired of the monotonous life at camp Toccoa; we had all grasped our roles in addition to everyone else's roles. We all learnt how to use mortars, fire bazookas and snipers they wanted us to be able to cope with everything. We were now ready to learn something new as well as have the opportunity to put it into practice.

It was late in the night and many of the guys were gambling or listening to the radio, we had drunk a couple of beers earlier celebrating the fact that we were moving out to Jump training soon. I had no spare cash or cigarettes so I wasn't partaking in any of the card games. I was sat at my cot the sounds of Glenn Miller drifting from the other end of the cabin, the raucous of the men drowning it out somewhat. Reaching into my pants pocket I retrieved a cream envelope, the latest correspondence from Danny. I had been writing to each of my siblings, but mainly Danny as well as Esther the whole time I've been at camp. Having read and written a response to her letter yesterday I turned my attention to Dan's.

_Dear Jimmie,_

_How are you? Did Easy win the baseball game? Have you had another boxing match since the last one? Mary was mortified when she read that you had broken your nose, she thought that you should have been experienced enough not to have sustained such damage, though she was glad that you won the fight, she was also glad that you sent her and everyone else letters, she didn__'__t think you would remember again. I asked Polly to be my girlfriend and she agreed. I also told her about me joining the Army, she didn__'__t take well to that but she said she__'__d support me, much like you had said in your letter. I__'__m 18 now I__'__m not a child anymore, my country needs me and I will gladly serve for it. I don__'__t think it will be much longer till Ray, Pete and even Tom will be joinin__' __up too. I hope Mary, Veronica or Betty will be alright._

_Write back soon,_

_Danny_

* * *

0700 Tuesday December 1st 1942 Camp Toccoa

I sent letters to Esther and Danny letting them know that we were moving to Fort Benning and that I would write to them when I arrived there. 1st and 3rd Battalion had both left at 0600, traveling by train or jeep, from what I'd heard 1st were taking it straight to Fort Benning whilst 3rd were taking a train to Atlanta. Apparently Sink had decided that 2nd Battalion had trained hard enough to march all 113 or so miles from Toccoa to Atlanta. We were instructed to wear our full gear and carry our weapons which caused many of the guys to grumble, I wasn't as pissed as some as having to carry my gun didn't seem that bad compared to the poor son of bitches in the mortar squad and the machine gunners, they had to carry some heavy shit. At 0700 Battalion HQ, Dog, Fox and Easy Company assembled outside of the camp gates. The winter sky overcast, cold rain hammering down, we set off at 0735 in neat rows of men, glad to see the back of Currahee but dreading the extremely long and no doubt exhausting march we were about to commence for the next few days.

Thirty minutes into the march the vile weather didn't hold up. The terrain we were marching on was not what I expected to say that the route we were taking was off the beaten track would be an understatement. We were trekking over uneven, wet sloppy ground; we were all annoyed by this. I stupidly assumed that we would stick to main roads, or minor roads at least, I should've have known from our experiences at Toccoa that nothing in the army was easy or simple.

"For fuck sake!" Toye shouts from a few rows in front of me as he slips on some of the reddish brown mud, splashing it over his already dirty uniform. If we weren't all miserable we probably would have laughed at his predicament however there wasn't a single one of us who was mud free. Each of us had fallen over in the sludge at least a dozen times. There wasn't a moment that went by without the odd swear word being shouted as another person took a tumble. This went on for a few hours before it was announced that we had a fifteen minute break. It started snowing a few miles back the temperature dropping dramatically. After taking a piss that I'd been holding in for the last hour I sat myself down near Tip, Lieb, Tab, Perco and Luz each of us lighting up whilst we had the chance. Letting out a sigh whilst exhaling the smoke I decide to voice something that had been bugging me ever since we found out the news that we'd be marching our way to Atlanta.

"Goddammit this is ridiculous, why the hell we couldn't take the train like the other battalions?"

"I don't know but my boots are killin' me" Frank declares in exasperation.

"My feet feel like they're about the fall off" Tip mutters as he takes a drag of his smoke.

After a brief moment of silence a small smirk appears onto George's face, clearing his throat he begins to speak using his John Wayne impression "Well I hate to break it to ya fellas but we have many more miles of this fun to go" I was about to say something in response however someone shouted the sentence I did not want to hear.

"Everyone back on your feet and into formation"

"Here we go again" Lieb spits out bitterly as he stomps the rest of his cigarette out onto the thin layer of snow that had stuck to the ground. Sighing I haul myself off the ground and start walking once again.

* * *

Another few miles past the same way many of the men cursing whenever they slipped on the mud and generally complaining about the situation in the short breaks we got every few hours. I spent most of the time between breaks counting down the time until the next break; I can only assume the others did the same. The weather did not improve much, switching between rain and snow every few minutes, cold gusts of wind blowing the spars trees. I had no idea where we were and how far we'd done, walking with no road signs meant we could only guess our location. With each step I took my bones and muscles ached. My feet were hurting from near the beginning, the boots provided were not comfy, but after several hours of walking they were now unbearable. I was worried about what I would find when I eventually take them off. Over time the pain seemed to lessen, eventually going numb, which may have been better than the annoying soreness however it worried me somewhat, numbness was never a good sign. We were all suffering; everyone looked exhausted, even after many 13 mile marches in full gear, even after the runs up Currahee nothing fully prepared us for this monstrosity. Those who had to carry more equipment compared to others had begun to waver in strength, their arms and legs aching immensely. It was decided that it would be unfair for them having to lug so much stuff around so we would all swap around every couple miles. Currently I was lugging around a machine gun; the weight of it making my muscles burn immensely, this march is hell.

* * *

1630 Tuesday December 1st 1942 somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Georgia

The further we walked the more my mind turned to home. The snow had picked up which was both a positive and a negative. It fascinated me to some extent but annoyed me as well, the coldness and wetness had become irritating. This was a stark contrast to what I was used to back home. Snow was very rare and when it did happen it only fell on extremely high ground. Extremely cold weather in general was also unusual, yes we had cold mornings and night in the winter but they weren't freezing. We had heavy rain normally for a few days at a time but other than that it was generally mild, though it wasn't usually the stereotypical Californian weather either. A place of no extremes, just constant pleasant weather the majority of the time, apart from when the fog set in from San Francisco, then the sky would go overcast and grey, cool breezes blew from the bay. I longed to be there for Christmas with my family. I longed to see the Christmas decorations and goods at Capwell's department store they would be put up soon, I missed the Fox Oakland theatre and I missed my fiancé. Most of the guys didn't fully understand what it was like for me being separated from my girl, most were single and they were a bit younger than me, the majority were eighteen. Perco and Martin were the only two married men. I swore that once the war was over and I returned home that I'd marry Esther almost instantly. I had been saving up for a while, I'd put aside some of the money I'd usually gamble for the purpose of buying her dress. I was even going to out some of the extra cash from the bonus money we got from the paratroopers towards it. She was the love of my life and I needed to spend forever with her, have children lots of them, just be happy and provide my family with happiness.

* * *

2300 Tuesday December 1st 1942 temporary camp site, in the middle of rural Georgia

At some point the rain and snow stopped completely, this was good in a sense that we were no longer getting soaked to the bone. It was bad however as the clouds slowly dispersed causing the temperatures to drop dramatically. The sun long gone bright stars and the pale moon illuminating the night sky. Strayer had decided that we were going to set up camp after 16 hours of marching, with the occasional break here and there. He had chosen quite possibly the worst location to do so. The area was grossly exposed, no vegetation what so ever and was situated on top of a large hill. The sub-zero temperatures were bad enough but the bitter harsh wind that was accompanied this was horrible. The wind and cold was so bad that the camp stoves wouldn't light; in the end we were given some bread and horrible unrecognisable food. Moral was low, most of us setting up our pup tents in silence. We would be sharing, two men per tent, I was thankful for this though the only reason being that there was some slim chance of staying warm with another man's body heat in the small tent, usually I would prefer to sleep in such a small space alone unless it was with my girl of course. I was however used to sharing bedrooms growing up; back home when my parents were alive space was a problem. My parents had a bedroom to themselves whilst I shared with my four brothers. We even had to share a double bed originally, I would always share with Tom seeing as he was second oldest, whilst John and Ray bunked together. When Danny came along mom and dad had found work again and managed to buy another bed so he slept on his own. My other three siblings Betty, Veronica and Mary each had their own bed but still shared a room together. When finances turned south again and my parents died, I moved into their room, when I eventually found work at Siegel's Store For Men I saved up enough money to buy a bed for everyone. Tonight I was sharing my tent with Lieb, by the time we had finished constructing the tent, and we were beyond exhausted. Taking off our boots and socks was a difficult task in itself in our current state. The relief my feet felt when I finally managed to free them from they're leather prison was heavenly. Despite the bitter weather I fell asleep almost instantly dressed in my ODs; the day's marching had taken its toll.

* * *

0600 Wednesday December 2nd Wednesday 1942 Georgia

I was woken abruptly by Lieb's annoyed voice "Jesus Christ" he all but yells. Glancing at my father's old wristwatch I noticed the time 0557. Turning my attention to Joe whilst attempting to stretch out my stiff muscles I realise why he was pissed. Jack Frost had decided to visit, leaving thick frost over everything, including the canvas of the tent. Standing up on my painful limbs I bend down to pick my boots up, they were frozen, rigid as steel. It took a lot of effort to finally free them of their tough state. Joe seemed to be having the same issue with his boots however he had finally managed to get his on. Mine however would not go over my feet; they had swollen dramatically, all the walking had resulted in elephant feet. Pulling the laces out I tried again, I managed to squeeze them on eventually.

"Oh fucking great, come look at this Jimmie" Lieb shouts from his spot a few yards from our tent. Stumbling over to his position I watch him attempt to pick up his gun, which too had been frozen to the ground overnight.

"Christ everything has been frozen" after a lengthy battle against the ice and my weapon I managed to free it. Our attention turned to the poor excuse of a breakfast we were about to have. We set off once again just after 0630, the muddy paths far worse than yesterday. The weather was a constant downpour, the rain never stopping all day. We passed through the odd neighbourhood here and there but they were few and far between. We stopped for an hour break around lunch time; the moment we stopped I collapsed onto the ground in a heap, taking a large gulp of water from my canteen then lighting up a cigarette, the other guys nearby doing the same.

"Hey Jimmie, Luz has been telling me that your girl sent you another photo of her can I have a look?" Tab asks as he sits down on an old tree stump.

Sighing and coming to the conclusion that it won't hurt to let them see it. With the current mood being so glum Esther's beauty might improve it somewhat; it would improve my morale anyway. Reaching into my musket bag I retrieve the folded photograph, reluctantly handing it over to him. Tab opens it and looks at it, a small crowd of men had gathered around him, they were all staring at it too.

"Gosh she is beautiful Jim, you're lucky to have her" Tab says with a smile. I liked Tab he was a good kid. Several of the others who had been looking at the picture nod and smile in agreement as the photo is passed around the group.

"Thanks Tab I am really lucky. I still don't know why she wants to marry me" I confess, its true I still can't really understand why such a beautiful women would date me, let alone commit to marriage.

"Hey if you ever call off the engagement give her my address. She looks like an actress, what I'd give to have a broad with a body like that, tell her she has nice tits for me in your next letter yeah" George says as he gestures the shape of the female body, a wicked toothy grin plastered on his face.

"Yeah well I'd like to think that she won't need you Luz and besides she wouldn't even if you were the last man on earth, she can't stand annoying short people and no I won't tell her about how nice her tits are" I say back with my own grin.

"You wound me Jimmie I'm not that short Perco's shorter than me" George says in a mock anger.

"Shut up Luz I'm not that short" Frank exclaims, he and Luz continue to argue over who is the shortest whilst my attention turns back to the rest of the group. Lieb and Tip were the last two to look at it, I noticed Joe staring at her breasts he had a penchant for large tits. Once they had finished looking I took the picture back. My eyes lingered on it, all the praise and looks the photo was receiving was not surprising. Seeing her dressed in her best dress her lacy floral body hugging dress. Each curve accentuated, her thin waist and large breasts were beautiful. Her dark brown hair curled to perfection, cascading down her shoulders. Her beauty rivalled that of Ingrid Bergman and Rita Hayworth, I was blessed to call her mine. I carefully folded it up once more, this time slipping it into my jacket pocket for safe keeping.

* * *

1700 Thursday December 3rd 1942 Atlanta Suburb Georgia

The second night in the wilderness was as bitterly cold as the first. Waking up this morning to another frost and even more swollen feet and ankles was horrible. Everyone was beyond exhausted; it took most of us several minutes for our stiff and aching muscle to work somewhat normally. Even all of our fittest and most elite men were haggard. Morale was at an all-time low, closely matching the constant diabolical weather, despite this however we were still determined to finish and you could see that determination on every man's face. Many of us had to use our friends for support a few times during the March when our legs would seize up, or when the pain wouldn't ease off, we pulled each other through until now. We finally reached the outskirts of Atlanta a few moments ago. We are going to stay overnight in some university and march the last few miles to the finish line. Our mammoth walk had picked up notoriety with many of the papers covering it; they are expecting a lot of people at the parade tomorrow. I'm excited for the finish partly due to the parade but mainly due to the fact that I had managed such a task. Not many people can say they've walked over 100 miles in 4 days with all the equipment we had to carry. I think it's safe to say that no one can argue with us when we say that we are the best group of paratroopers or even soldiers in the world, I am proud to say that I have shared this miserable, worst experience of my life so far, with such determined and resilient soldiers. We had managed to survive Toccoa, Currahee and now this, we will be able to survive Jump training and Fort Benning, then whatever lies after that, we are Easy company we stand alone, we stand alone together.


	4. Chapter Four: Jumping For Joy

**Just a quick note to thank Luckynumber28 and war sage for their lovely comments they are greatly appreciated :-) **

**I will be going back and editing the chapters when I have more time, maybe next week I'm not sure when yet, so until then I am sorry for any mistakes, I hate reading stories with errors! Anyway...**

**T****hank you for reading hope you enjoy this extra-long chapter and I hope it doesn't bore you too much! :-)**

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**Chapter Four: Jumping For Joy**

Wednesday December 9th 1942 Fort Benning Georgia

"Ok everyone stop what you are doing, if you haven't finished packing your chute then tough shit you should have finished by now! I will be coming round and checking each man's pack, you know the drill stand in front of your chute and wait for my inspection." The instructor commands as we stand in front of our parachute backpacks. He was right we did know the drill by now, we have been practicing meticulously packing and unpacking our parachutes for the past five days. Parachute packing was a major part of the program here a Fort Benning, we were supposed to be completing the first stage of the four step program however due to our superior fitness, thanks to Sobel's shit, we had managed to skip A stage and went straight to B stage. Speaking of Sobel, we finally had some respite of him and all the commissioned officers for a short while. They will be qualifying before us so we are training under experienced NCOs. We have had the same routine each day since we started parachute packing. In the morning we would head to the packing shed, a much larger bare wooden hut compared to the small basic huts that littered the base. Benning was miserable both in look and in terms of the training. With dry sandy soil, sparse vegetation and ugly shacks, not that Toccoa was idyllic; the repetitive difficult training was draining. The packing shed had to be huge though otherwise all of our parachutes wouldn't fit in. According to the experts the chutes had to be 28 feet long and 28 feet in diameter with 28 suspension lines. Don't ask me why 28 was the chosen number apparently it was the perfect quantity, as long as I was safe I didn't care what size it was. Once the morning training was completed we would head to the Frying Pan for lunch then jump training. The Frying Pan was a sawdust area with a set up very much like that of Toccoa, the small mock airplane door to practice landings and the taller tower and pulley system to practice the fall.

"Private Larsen" The trainer's gruff voice greets me as he begins to check my pack. He stares closely at the thin twine that binds the two parts of the parachute backpack cover, a look of approval clear on his face. He then proceeds to rip it open revealing the neatly folded white silk bundle and suspension lines. "Good, unfold and repack it again Larsen" he moves onto the next table to look at Bulls pack. We had all mastered the art of packing by now; the first few attempts were disastrous for many. Getting lines tangled and folding the silk the wrong way were common problems, however having worked in a tailor for a few years I had some experience with this. We were now ready and eager for C stage and ultimately D stage, once D stage was completed we could finally call ourselves paratroopers.

Progression to C stage happened a few days later, during our second week at the camp. Stage C was interesting; it was another type of mock jumping. There were two different types of jumps during this training stage. One of which was around 250 feet tall with seats, shock absorbers and parachute guide wires. This was to simulate falling. The second type involved a suspended arm and parachutes; a wind machine was used to simulate landing conditions. We each had completed both exercises several times during the day and at least once at night. When we had finally completed this it was time for one of the most important parts of our training yet, D stage, gaining our wings. In order to finish D stage we were required to complete a total of 5 jumps from an aircraft, just the thought of it worried me and excited me simultaneously. Danny thought that I would love it and that I should relax and enjoy the scenery. His advice was greatly appreciated but he wasn't the one throwing himself out of a metal bird from thousands of feet high, relying on a silk bed-sheet to save him. To say I was nervous about the jumps would be an understatement.

* * *

0530 Tuesday December 22nd 1942 Fort Benning Georgia

I was exhausted, having spent countless hours last night packing, unpacking and repacking my parachute I had a restless sleep. I was dreading this jump as were the rest of the men, none of us would say that out loud though. We marched this morning towards the airstrip where we would board our plane. We were led to the hanger in our full gear and sat down on the wooden benches. The fellas laughing and joking out of pure nervousness and fear, I was too nervous to even speak. This was the first time I had ever been on an airplane; I think most of the men had never flown either. The urge to urinate for what felt like the thousandth time today made me wriggle uncomfortably. Standing up and starting the small trek towards the latrine when Tippers questioning voice stops me.

"Where you headin' Jimmie?"

"Latrine, I need another piss" I reply slightly irritated at the fact that I had to piss again, damn my small bladder.

"Jesus that's the fourth time this morning, be quick I think we will be getting ready soon" He says as I nod my head, I could hear Luz in the distance joking about me pissing myself during the jump. I wouldn't put that past my bladder.

Once I had relieved myself I returned to the group. Tip was indeed correct, we were collected by a jump-master and we were taken to the runway where we were instructed to sit down in front of the rather large and looming airplane. The instructor was talking and joking about the jump procedure, pointing at a diagram on a board that had been placed in the grass. This was all a blur though; I couldn't't focus on anything he was saying as my mind was a swirling mess. I could only hope that I subconsciously remembered my extensive training when I did jump.

We made our way towards the C-47 aircraft my eyes lingering on the two large propellers. It boggled my mind that such a heavy object could fly in the air like a bird, solely relying on the engines and propellers. We filed our way onto the plane. Sitting down on the wooden benches, there were around 24 of us in total. I glance around the nervous faces of my friends. Luz was joking around with Skip, Penkala, Lieb, Tip and Malark, though they were laughing you could tell inside he was shitting it. Even two of the toughest guys I know where looking slightly nervous, Wild Bill and Toye were talking in low voices to each other, their faces set in small frowns and Martin who was sat next to Joe was staring at the open door. Web, Perco, Shifty, Bull and Tab were discussing how to land safely. The plane suddenly bursts to life making me jump in my seat slightly. Internally scolding myself for showing such a sign of weakness, I shouldn't be so scared about this. Luckily everyone else was so engrossed in their conversations that no one noticed my movement, or so I thought.

"Your first time flying Jimmie?" Lip asks from his place directly opposite me.

"Yeah how'd you guess" I sarcastically comment a small smile gracing my lips "is it yours?" I ask, though I could probably guess that it was Lipton's first flight too.

"Yeah it is" he says as he nods his head slightly. The plane had picked up speed at an alarming rate; we were hurtling towards the end of the runway. "Everything will be fine Larsen, just follow your training and everything will be ok" Lip says reassuringly as the planes angle pitches and the wheels leave the solid ground. That's one thing I like about the sergeant he cared for us. My mouth had become so dry with nerves by this point that I could no longer rely on my voice to reply so I nod and smile in appreciation of his encouragement.

"We've reached 1,500 feet we will loop round once" I hear the pilot say to the jump-master. The jump-master said something back but I didn't hear what he had said, this whole experience had overwhelmed me. We had been training for months for this day. The day we could finally jump out of a real aircraft, with real parachutes, the day we fully experienced our job for the first time and here I was a ball of nerves. The plane tilted the right hand side, the side I was sat on; this lasted for a few moments before we straightened out once more. My eyes going towards the light above the door in anticipation, somewhere within my brain a switch was clicked and my training had overtaken my fear.

The light illuminated red, the jump-master stood up and shouted over the loud racket that the propellers caused.

"Stand up and hook-up" we did as we were told. Grasping the line was stuck to my backpack cover I carefully attach the metal clasp to the anchor wire running along the top of the plane.

"Sound off for equipment check!" _Oh shit I am actually doing this._

"Number 24 ok" _Its ok Jimmie you can do this._

"Number 23 ok" _Just remember that the chute will open up automatically and you should only pull the reserve chute if it doesn't open up immediately. Also remember when it's time to land don't let your chute get out of control and pull you back into the air._

"Number 7 ok" Lieb shouts directly behind me as his hand slaps my shoulder signaling that it was my time to check the man in front of me, examining Lip I manage to yell loud enough.

"Number 6 ok" _We were told not to look down and not to put our hands inside the door. I have a feeling that I would probably end up looking straight down, I would have to make sure I didn't, I really wanted to pass this and didn't want to fail because I was too chicken shit to actually do it. I would never live that down._

"Number 1 ok"

"Close up and stand in the door" It was time. I watch as the six men in front of me each approach the door and jump out, there parachutes deploying. It was now my turn. Resisting the urge to look down my gaze stayed fixed towards the blue horizon, my hands clasped the cold metal exterior of the huge plane. A light shove from the jumpmaster caused me to let go and jump. The blast of cold air was exhilarating and the feeling of falling at great speeds was terrifyingly good. My body jars when the cover snaps of the guide line. The white sheet billowing out above me, the chute had deployed correctly thank god. Relieved and surprisingly happy I let out a long sigh as I take in the breath-taking view. Everything below looked tiny, all the buildings and people were like little black dots. The sky was filled with my fellow paratroopers, the white chutes shining in the meagre winter sunlight.

"How amazing is this?" Webster shouts from below me. We were all slowing down our descent now approaching the ground at slower speeds, laughing and joking in our exhilarated state.

"It's breath-taking" I shout back

"Do you need a piss now Jimmie" Lieb shouts whilst grinning from his position above me.

"He has probably pissed his pants already" I could vaguely hear Luz shout a few feet away from me. I let out a laugh as the ground approaches me quickly. Having watched Web, Perco, Shifty, Bull, Tab and Lip land safely I managed to successfully land without killing or even injuring myself. After a brief battle with my parachute against the wind, I slump down on the ground a safe distance from the other landing paratroopers, thoroughly exhausted due to the lack of sleep and the excitement. I don't know why I was nervous to begin with, it was a wonderful thing. I was looking forward to the second jump we'd be completing in the afternoon. The other fellas that had landed sat next to me, some with grins clearly having enjoyed the jump, others slightly bewildered, and we watched the rest of the Toccoa men complete their jump. The odd persons jump going wrong, Bill was one of them. He started to run in mid-air which was not advisable. We were yelling at him to stop but he panicked, he ended up landing in a heap on the ground. He was lucky he didn't break anything.

* * *

That afternoon we completed the second jump successfully also. Bill managed to mess up again this time he opened his reserve chute and his main chute, the reserve chute opening between his legs causing him to be pulled in different directions, other than that it went well. I was eager for the third and fourth jump. It felt like an alcoholic but with parachuting, I craved the thrill of dropping out of the sky. I spoke to some of the others about it, but none of them truly felt the way I did, the only other man who enjoyed it as much as I was Web. The third jump two days later was slightly different from the previous two. This time we were in groups of 12, this is the standard way of jumping, instead of going one at a time we all went straight after each other, the jump-master yelling go after each man, it was intense.

The fourth jump was on Christmas Eve and went smoothly, we had Christmas Day free and then we would finish off jump training on the 26th. Homesickness was plaguing Easy then. Much like flying, it was the first time for many being away from home at Christmas. No family dinner and present giving, some of the guys complained about the lack of snow. I was missing my siblings and Esther to no end. Est was spending Christmas at her parents' house this year, she had also kindly invited my siblings along, she told me in her last letter, she felt that being near my relatives made her feel closer to me somehow, it made her feel like there was some normality in the world.

Esther's family lived in Fort Worth; they had generously offered to pay for my siblings to travel and stay at their home. Veronica and Peter were staying at Peters parents in San Francisco like they did last year and Danny had been invited to spend Christmas with Polly's family, which pleased me as much as it pleased him. That left Betty, Mary, Ray and Tom at home, they accepted Esther's thoughtful offer with my blessing. I promised to pay back her parents for the cost, but they insisted that as their future son in law, my family was their family too. As for Easy's Christmas plans we were having a full Christmas dinner, Turkey with all the trimmings. It was delicious compared to the normal shit food. We enjoyed ourselves as much as we could given our situation. We were anticipating eagerly the next day, the pinnacle jump of our lives so far.

* * *

2100 Saturday December 26th 1942 Fort Benning Georgia

We had finally completed our last jump. Earlier today Sink pinned a set of jump wings onto each man's chest. I was brimming with pride. I couldn't stop myself from staring at the marvellous silver badge. This was the culmination of months of training, we were now officially paratroopers, and I was now officially a corporal. I've never seen so many proud faces in that room when we had our presentation ceremony that afternoon. We eagerly shoved our trousers into our boots; we'd waited so long to blouse them like the real deal. A party had begun in the bar shortly after Sink left. Luz was situated behind the bar distributing bottles and pints of beer. With each hour that passed he and the rest of us became more and more inebriated. I was standing next to Lieb, Popeye, Tip and Tab, slightly drunk.

"Can you fucking believe it? We are now certified paratroopers" I yell in ecstasy.

"Yeah bud you better believe it" Lieb shouts equally elated.

"I can't believe I'm a sergeant" Tab slurs in his intoxicated state, he and Martin had both been promoted to sergeant at the same time I and a few others were promoted to corporal.

"Congrats again buddy, you deserve another drink" Popeye says has he slaps Floyd rather harshly but still friendly on his back.

"I'll get him another anyone else need one" the others shake their head to say no. Nodding as I turn and start the short walk towards the alcohol. I stumble slightly on my way towards the bar. I overhear Perco and Martin talking about class and style or some bullshit. When I arrive to my destination Toye is clinking his glass against Luz's in a toast of "three miles up three miles down" I was about to yell at him to give me some beers when a shout tousled me into position of attention.

"Ten hut"

Col Sink stalks in with his two aids; he stands in front of the group a small smile on his face.

"Well at ease paratroopers good evening easy company" he starts his speech as we reply back with a collective shout of "good evening sir". He tells us how proud he is of us men making history with the new concept of paratroopers and that we deserved the party and the 10 day furlough we were getting, I was planning on surprising my siblings and fiancé who were staying at Esther's parents for a few more weeks. Grant handed Sink a beer at some point and he finishes his speech off with our motto of Currahee, to which we all gleefully toasted and yelled back. When Sink left I turned my attention back to the bar leaning against the wooden structure trying to prevent me from toppling over, Luz stares at me.

"Are you leaning corporal, as I was telling corporal Toye there will be no leaning in my company" he was impersonating again.

"Shut up Luz just give me two beers will ya" I slur hastily. He smiles his usual grin then reaches down to God knows where and produces two full glasses of beer.

"Here ya go Jimmie" he says his voice back to normal now as he handed the glasses to me. "Currahee" he grins as he pulls his glass towards mine, a smile erupting on to my face as our glasses clink together noisily "to Currahee".

The rest of the night was a blur of boisterous behaviour and a vast amount of drinking.

The next day Sink gathered us up and told us to return back by 1030 in ten days' time and told us not to get arrested. We were then sent on our way to do whatever we wanted for the first time in a long while. A number of the men were going home, others were going to stay in Georgia or go on a holiday of sorts. I was thoroughly excited to be travelling to Texas in order to surprise some of my family. After packing a bag and saying goodbye to some of the fellas I boarded the bus and started the 12 hour journey towards the lone star state.

* * *

Thursday December 31st 1942 Fort Worth Texas

I had surprised Esther and my siblings a couple of days ago. They were thrilled to see me, even Esther's parents, I've been sleeping on the sofa seeing as all available beds were taken, and that they were devout Catholics prohibiting me from sleeping with their daughter, I respected their views whilst in their home but it was killing me. We had just finished eating a lovely meal made by Betty and Mary, a thank you gift to Esther's parents. John had been acting strange all day; all my siblings were acting strange but John more so than the others. He excused himself and headed towards the front porch, I swiftly excused myself, determined to find answers. We sat on the brick steps in silence until I spoke up and asked him what was wrong.

"What's on your mind Johnny?" I turn my head towards his position, attempting to lock eyes with his, but his gaze never met mine. He continued to stare off towards the star filled sky. He lets out a long sigh, his face contemplative.

"Nothing James" he unconvincingly lies.

"You've never been good a lying John, I'll never forget the time you smashed Mrs. Bragg's door with a baseball. Now tell me what's wrong or I'll go and ask the others, I'm sure by the way they're acting they know what's going on." He turns to look at me straight sheepishly.

"Well y'know how Dan is gonna join the Army, I already have."

"Oh when? And how come ya never told me?" I ask, not in the least bit annoyed by this revelation.

"Last month, I am off to training in a few weeks. I was gonna tell you sooner, I swear, it's just I didn't know how you'd take it. If me, Dan, Ray and Tom all join up then Veronica, Betty and Mary would be left to look after themselves. I know you worry about them, well all of us. I didn't want to stress you out during jump training…" Johnny was rambling nervously; I cut him off before he worked himself up further.

"Hey, hey, its ok Johnny, I'm not mad. I know this was a big decision for ya, I will support you no matter what, I hope you remember that. I am proud at the way all of you have coped and I know that the girls will survive without us. Sometimes I think we underestimate them, they are Larsen's after all" I say with a toothy grin chuckling slightly, causing Johnny to smile for the first time today.

"I'm nervous, but excited; I don't know what to expect really I'm so confused. I've been chosen to be a medic. They think it suits me best. I beg to differ but they insisted that it was the perfect role for me. Yeah I want to help people but putting a life in my hands is extreme, I would be dealing with life and death each day, I don't know if I can cope." He was going to be a medic like Doc Roe, I could see why he was chosen for this role, his personality, his intelligence he was the perfect candidate.

"Well I would be worried if you weren't nervous. Fear is as important as bravery; you just have to control it. I'll tell you something but ya have to promise not to tell the other fellas, they would never let me live this down" He nods slightly looking quizzically at me. "When we did the first proper jump at Benning I was shit scared. I was convinced that I was going to fuck up and potentially cause an accident. I was constantly going the bathroom and all the men found it a hoot. I thought I would freeze and never get my wings, but I pushed through that fear and completed the jump and enjoyed it. Now I can proudly say that I am a paratrooper. I know that you can manage your fear and become a highly skilled medic, you can do anything if you put your mind, heart and soul into it." I finish my lecture with a slap on Johnny back, hoping that my words had helped him somewhat.

"The great James William Larsen scared, I'd never thought I'd see the day" He says barking a laugh out, it relieved me to see him almost back to his old self. None of us will truly be as carefree as we were before this shitty war and our parents' deaths but we were generally happy.

"Fuck off; if you jumped out of that contraption with a bit of silk stuck to you you'd be pissing yourself too"

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that Jimmie"

"Your worse than Luz" the only sound audible in the quite twilight was our rambunctious laughs. When we finally stopped and regained our breath we sat in silent. Each lost in our own thoughts staring off into to the night. The silence wasn't awkward, it was comforting, and having a slight part of normalcy in my now chaotic life was a small miracle. I was thankful for my loving family and my amazing friends and colleagues of Easy. The silence was broken once more by Johnny, his voice far quitter than before, it was barely a whisper, almost lost among the sound of the increasing wind.

"Thank you James, for everything"


	5. Chapter Five: Operation Sobel

**Just a really quick note to say thank you to Byron W.4 and war sage for their reviews greatly appreciated. Enjoy this chapter (I had a lot of fun writing this for some reason) and thanks for reading hope it doesn't bore you too much :-)**

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**Chapter Five: Operation Sobel**

March 1943 Camp Mackall North Carolina

"Holy shit these barracks are nice!" Perco all but shouts as he slams open the door of our lodgings, a look of surprise and joy clear on his tanned face.

"Christ we actually have mattresses!" Luz shouts after scanning the area, equally as happy as his best friend. He and Frank make their way towards a cot and begin to place their items around it. Stepping over the thresh hold with, Lieb, Tip, Shifty, Malark, Skip, Penkala, Gonorrhea, Toye and Lip following close behind me I make my way towards one of the beds.

"It's nice and warm as well, it's not like the draughty pieces of shits in Georgia and Alabama" Skip cries joining the conversation as he lights up a smoke.

"Yeah it's the fuckin Ritz" Bill exclaims. It's true though, it may not be five-star hotel nice (not that I ever been in a five star hotel) but it's far better than all the places we've been in before. It actually resembles a sleeping area now, not just a cold stark log cabin. We were no longer sleeping in a room of twenty-five but twelve men instead. This meant fewer people who were snoring which was always a positive. The whole camp was spectacular compared to Toccoa and Benning. We were told on the march over here that the camp boasts five; yes five movie theatres and six beer gardens. I was thoroughly looking forward to enjoying those offerings.

It was later that day when we first jumped in nearly full combat gear. Boy was it harder than I thought. I had to carry my M1, small arms, rations, ammunition, two hand grenades, explosives and maps. I also ended up carrying the tripod of one of the machine guns; Tipper and the fellas in the mortar squad had it worse though, Tip had to jump with the bazooka in one piece instead of splitting it. The 60mm mortars were split between two men, one carrying the baseplate the other carrying the mortars. We were carrying well over half our weight which made the jump awkward. We conducted a few more combat jumps each time adding slightly more weight. The training we were receiving now was complex and combat orientated. We would train at platoon level, focusing on troop movement and offensive/defensive tactics. I had a feeling that the majority of this training was for the officers and leaders; it was an opportunity for them to practice what they have learnt to do.

* * *

A few weeks after arriving we started to complete two or three day exercises in the vast woods that ran throughout the camp. This was pissing me and a few others off as we very rarely got to experience the accommodation that Luz and Perco were so elated to see when we arrived. We were on one now. It was a three day quick troop movement behind enemy lines exercise. Today was the second day. Crouching down on the leaf covered floor observing the horizon for movement I see Popeye approaching our spot. Sobel who was stood in the ditch behind me springs up loudly and storms off towards the approaching figure.

"Jesus does he not understand the word quiet?" Tip whispers next to me his eyes still locked onto the desolate forest.

"Evidently not" my voice hushed as I turn to look at Sobel who had nearly reached Popeye's location.

"It's a good job the enemy didn't hear us we'd all be fucking dead!" Toye raises his voice slightly, his aggressive nature getting the better of him.

"Shh noise discipline, do not talk" Lip scolds us as he crouch walked towards us, probably investigating why our captain had stepped out of our relatively safe cover. I was about to apologies when Sobel starts yelling blowing our efforts to remain concealed.

"What is the meaning of this? I sent you out last night Private, why did it take you so long to return?" Popeye looks pensive for a moment before coming up with no doubt a phony excuse.

"Because I can't see in the dark sir" That was Popeye's piss poor explanation. I couldn't stop myself from letting out a snicker; the other fellas were struggling not to laugh as well, including Lip who a mere second ago was scowling intensely. Sobel looked furious.

"You had better learn to see in the dark private Wynn" The straw that broke the camel's back, I could no longer hold in my laughter. I was in hysterics; we have to learn to see in the dark! That man was an idiot. Tipper next to me also started to laugh loudly until Sobel's shrill voice shattered his jovial mood.

"Private Tipper, get your scrawny butt over here now!"

"Shit" Tipper rather apprehensively approaches our galling leader.

"Ha looks like Tip's his new slave" I manage to spit out between chuckles addressing the small group who had gathered around me, all curios about the current situation. "Sobel's in for a shit time now, Tips been sore since the inspection where he confiscated his letters" I continue.

"I still can't believe that piece of horse shit is our leader and is gonna lead us to war" Gonorrhea throws his two cents into the conversation. A series of groans and expletives erupt from the men. We might not all agree on everything but one thing we all agreed on was the useless nature of Sobel.

"Maybe Tip can mess with him like Wild Bill does" Hoob suggests happily as he leans against one of the many bare trees, a huge grin on his boyish face. This makes Bill smile broadly as well; he had been promoted to Sergeant of 2nd Platoon mortar squad and has fucked with Sobel when he could since then.

He wasn't the only man to be promoted to Sergeant during the early days of being at this camp; I was now proud wearer of three chevrons. My family was very happy when I informed them. Danny said he wasn't surprised in the slightest, he wrote, "You always look out for others and have always been a good leader you're a natural". I have always felt that I had some leadership qualities especially since I've had to look after so many people over the years. Despite this I never imagined that others thought so too. I just hope that I can successfully look out for my men, now that I had extra responsibility it worried me slightly but I know that I can do my job correctly. I have a feeling that all of my brothers who have now joined up will quickly gain promotions. Danny thinks that Polly will really love him if he was promoted from his current rank of Private. His enthusiasm never ceases much like Hoob; ever since I first met Hoob I've seen Danny in him. I see my brothers in some of the other fellas but none as my much as in Hoobler's case.

"Kid he will without doubt fuck with him in any way he can and I won't blame him for it" Toye declares as he puffs on his cigarette, nodding my head in agreement as I reach into my pocket pulling out my lighter and smokes lighting up one myself.

Tipper had been made Sobel's runner and he was fooling with him when he could. His favorite hobby was misplacing the maps for exercises resulting in the normally confused Sobel becoming completely inept, bewildered and lost. On several occasions we had ended up in the middle of our enemy's camp and had been 'killed' instantly. This caused many of the fellas me included to become ever disenchanted with our leader.

* * *

Tipper has been Sobel's runner for just over a week now. He was unhappy this morning as we are having another mock battle which meant he has extra work to do on top of his usual duties. The normal rules apply for today, red v blue team with Bill chosen as the umpire. It's always interesting when good old Wild Bill is in charge. Red team was my assigned group, this unfortunately included Sobel. The main objective of this training was to give the medics the opportunity to practice what they've learnt and will need to use out in the field. I don't particularly like being a training dummy but if it helps the docs practice, I know that when I or our men get into trouble our medical personnel are capable and well-practiced. Sobel was often chosen as a practice subject, most of the time the medics would fuck around with him, making him look more of a fool than he already was. Rumor has it that if Sobel is 'hit' or 'injured' today then a couple of the medics are gonna perform 'surgery' on him.

Running swiftly towards safety, breathes coming out raggedly, my hands clasping to my M1 tightly, firing wildly at those who shot at me, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Sobel who was conducting friendly fire, he has done before and I hadn't seen him for a while. Leaping from the forest floor and landing messily inside the ditch, rolling on my side slightly, I hear a loud whistle. Sighing and attempting to gain my breath once more I look towards the top of the ditch, the sound of approaching footprints and a pair of spit shined boots appears in my eye line. Gonorrhea's booming Philly accent rings out.

"Larsen you've just been hit in the shoulder" Bill looks at me and points towards the gaggle of medics stood off from the side of the kill zone "Go to Doc Roe for treatment" he continues.

"Bullshit Bill I wasn't hit" I hiss, I admit when I have been hit and I usually agree with Bill or any of the other umpires but I know for a fact that no bullet would've have touched me. I had in my opinion managed to successfully negotiate between two trenches and into cover whilst the blue team attempted to shoot at me with blank rounds. Bill clearly disagreed and thought that if we were shooting with live rounds I would have been bleeding by now.

"Shut ya yap and get over to Doc Roe before I actually shoot ya" he snaps back testily despite the anger in his tone a small smirk appears on his face before returning his attention back to the current firefight between Christenson who was on the blue team and Perco who was on our team. Christenson and I had become loose friends not really having too much in common apart from the fact that we were both from the same neighborhood in Oakland, we later discovered that we both knew someone very well, he was very good friends with my brother, it turns out he was in the same year as Ray in high school. Tearing myself away from the fight begrudgingly I trudge towards the Cajun medic, the closer I got to him I noticed a group of medics huddled around what appeared to be Sobel. Eugene clears his throat drawing my attention back to him. He then motions for me to sit with my back propped up against one of the nearby tree trunks. He squats down on the balls of his feet, he then begins to pull out medical equipment from his satchel bandages, gauze, sulfa and scissors.

Sitting in silence as Gene starts to wrap a piece of gauze around my shoulder, having removed my jacket a few moments before. I continue to watch the group of medics I noticed before curiosity gets the better of me.

"Hey, what's going on over their doc?" I use my 'uninjured' arm to gesture towards that part of the woods. He looks up for a moment before shaking his head slightly, I assume in a way that meant he didn't know before he continued to expertly wrap the material. My eyes meet those of another Philly member of Easy, Spina; he too was a medic like Gene.

"Hey Speen!" I call out to him, he grins at my predicament before he ambles towards us.

"I hope you're being a good patient for Gene, Jimmie" he jokingly states as he crouches down next to us.

"Yeah, yeah do you know what's happening over there?" I ask impatiently. He looks towards the medics and then laughs uncontrollably. This causes the quieter medic to raise an eyebrow at me as he finishes pinning the pure white neatly wrapped bandage. I mirror his action raising my eyebrows and shrugging. When Spina manages to control himself he turns back to us, beginning to explain the reason for his outburst.

"Well some of the other guys thought it would be funny to practice appendectomies. They've given him real anaesthetic and have cut him open. They're patchin' him up now."

"Holy shit ya kiddin' me?" I splutter out between fits of laughter. From the corner of my eye I can see a little smile gracing Roe's pale features though he didn't laugh.

"No they really have performed surgery on him" I should be disgusted by this and condemning it, they should be court-martialled for attacking an officer, but I won't intervene. That piece of shit deserves everything he got.

Sobel was pissed when he woke up later that day. He awoke to find that he was alone in the forest with a pain on his right hand side. He quickly discovered the source of the pain, stitches. He started an investigation but had yielded no answers. None of the medics involved stepped forward and me and the other guys who witnessed the event wouldn't mention it. I don't think he will ever get to the bottom of "operation Sobel" as I have taken to calling it.

* * *

May 1943 Kentucky and Tennessee

For a month the entire 506th had been moved out onto the field, flitting between the state borders of Kentucky and Tennessee. It was the most intense and complex maneuver practice we had ever had. It was designed to be the most realistic mock battle we would face, and it was indeed realistic. I will never forget the loud explosions and bouts of gunfire over the torrential rain. The weather for the entire time was worse than that we encountered on the trek to Atlanta before Christmas. I had grown accustomed to sleeping in foxholes during basic but nothing fully prepared me for this exercise. Though we were only using blank bullets we were still using our real rifles. It produced the most realistic sound to firing a gun as you'll ever hear.

There were several sleepless nights, horrible food; the spam was the worst and sore limbs. We all became covered in mud and other dirt. On top of that the officers had decided to make the battlefield realistic as possible by spreading pig guts and entrails all over the place. Smeared up the trees, in piles on the floor, in foxholes and ditches, you name a place you would most probably found some form of organ or blood there. After a few days out in the field the parts began to decompose and cause an almighty stink. It would make you sick to your stomach. The smell clung onto all your items of clothing, including your under garments. Even after showering several times and laundering my uniform twice, the smell still lingered. I had surmised that the smell was not stuck to the clothing but stuck in my nose and brain. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to work, as an undertaker the smell must be unbearable. We trained for a few weeks when we finally retuned back to Camp Mackall, we had passed the exercise with flying colours, only a few hiccups here and there. We were informed that in June we would be undergoing a test mock battle; this one was going to run like all the other mock battles we had done before however this time it would be supervised by a superior from HQ, it was an exam of sorts and passing was important. Sobel would know doubt find a way to screw this up.

* * *

Wednesday June 23rd 1943 Camp Mackall North Carolina

My mind and body focused, eyes scanning and sweeping the sparse woods, on high alert for the enemy. I periodically check the thick brown, dead bushes directly in front of me. We are all waiting for Sobel's command. I have a growing suspicion that he had managed to get us all lost, which was not good given the situation. Tipper couldn't be blamed either, as he was not in this team. Sobel who is stood slightly to the left of me was growing more and more agitated by the minuet.

"Petty!" he whisper shouts towards the group of soldiers further into the ditch. Some of the men exchanging glances as Petty begins to silently walk towards the Captain. "Map come on!" he demands beckoning him over snatching the map out of the poor man's hand when he produces it. Panic is the only word to describe Sobel's expression. "We're in the wrong position" he mumbles worriedly. No shit Sobel we all gathered that about half an hour ago, I have to restrain myself from saying that thought aloud. Winters who was on the other side of the ditch creeps over, a grim frown set on his face. "We're in the wrong position" Sobel repeats like a man who's gone insane. Winters looks thoughtful for a second then begins to cut the ramblings of our supposed leader short.

"Were in the text book position for an ambush sir" he pauses as if he was waiting for confirmation from the leader, after realising he won't, he continues talking "We should sit tight, let the enemy come into our killing zone sir" Yes Winters knows what he is doing and Sobel should listen to this advice, Sobel will get us all killed if we continue the way we are going. Sobel looks as if he has an epiphany or something; he then looks almost pleadingly at his Lieutenant.

"There right up there somewhere let's just get them" he suggests proving that he was like the Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz, he had no brain, heart or courage. I am starting to agree with some of the guys that it might be better to kill this piece if shit before we go into combat. It would save the Krauts the job and will most definitely save lives on our side. Winters looks as confused and pissed as I felt, we needed to stay in cover, Winters mirrors my thoughts.

"Sir we have perfect cover here" Sobel ignores his protests and orders Winters.

"Lieutenant deploy your troops" Fuck me he was signing our preverbal death certificate.

"2nd Platoon move out" Winters reluctantly fulfils his superiors wish. A brief moment of disbelief sweeps through the guys. I vaguely hear Muck question the decision in shock.

"Tactical columns" most of the fellas move into formation their expressions confused and pissed, Doc Roe looks particularly vexed. He like the rest of us could see that we were all going to die in this mock exercise. I hang back and exchange a look of disbelief with my fellow sergeants and friends, Lip and Bill. Jumping out of the ditch and getting into position we walk towards the enemy out in the open of the forest. After a brief moment the ambush/capture happened. The enemy platoons spring up from their stations in the undergrowth, covered in leaves and other pieces of camouflage. Each man expertly marking us with their rifles poised, pointing at our heads. We were dead. The examiner appears from where he was observing the developments, his features showed a look of boredom mixed with anger and disbelief.

"Captain you've just been killed along with 95% of your company" Sobel appears taken aback as the man continues "your outfit?"

"Easy Company 2nd Battalion 506" Sobel recites.

"Leave three wounded men on the ground and report back to the assembly area"

"Godammit" Sobel mutters before turning to the group, pointing and shouting loudly at the three random men he chose to leave behind. There is no doubt in my mind that Sobel will be the death of us all if something isn't done about him soon. I just hope we can get rid of him and fast.


	6. Chapter Six: Dollars, Drink & Donuts

**Thank you once again to **Byron W.4** and **war sage **for their lovely reviews greatly appreciated! Enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading :-)**

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**Chapter Six: Dollars, Drink &amp; Donut Dollies**

"You have a fun 10 days Jimmie?" Tipper asks as he gathers up his bags as we prepare to board the trains. Most of Easy had a ten-day furlough last week, many of them spending it with their families at home; I didn't go home mainly because of how long it would take for me to get home and that my brothers have all been shipped off for training so it only left the girls, well two of my sisters and Esther. Veronica was also away from home. She had surprised us all by joining the WACs as an officer. I received a letter from her last week. She only wrote to me after completing the 6 weeks OCS at Fort Des Moines Iowa. I am proud of her but also apprehensive. I have no doubts about her being able to look after herself; she's smart she is the only one in our family with college education but a part of me is sceptical over it. Some of the fellas I've talked to think that dames shouldn't be in the army I think if our pa was alive he wouldn't agree with it either, in fairness I'm still unsure about it, but all I can do is support her choices and pray that she will be ok. No matter what I will back and care about my siblings, family is one of the most important things in the world. That was the other reason why I didn't return to California, I didn't want to have to bid farewell to them again. Seeing their faces when I left last time it broke my heart, I have been so used to looking after them all for so long I felt like a parent sending off his kids to college. They are all adults know and can survive without me; I just had to adjust to the change. I view the men of Easy as my new siblings, I strive to protect and watch each of the men flourish.

"Yeah Tab showed me some of his favourite bars" I answer Tips question whilst stuffing a smoke into my mouth, handing Tip one as well, he nods as a thank you. Seeing as I wasn't going home or visiting Esther and her parents Tab invited me to spend my time off with him back home in Kokomo. It didn't take long for us to travel from Kentucky to Indianapolis; the summer weather was hot and humid. We enjoyed the delights of the drinking establishments on offer. I met his four brothers, they were as hospitable as Floyd, the Talbert family are very welcoming people. "Did you enjoy your trip back home?" after picking up my bag I turn to Tip and watch as he begins to walk towards the trains doors.

"Yeah it was good to see my family again…" Tip had more to say but a certain loud mouth member of Easy Company cut him off.

"Hey Jimmie what's this I hear about your sister? She out ranks you now, does that mean you have to salute her when you see her?" Luz laughs as he approaches us, Perco, Floyd and Lieb following him closely, each of them with a smile painted on their faces. Luz clearly finds it funny Vern out ranks me.

"It ain't that funny George" I huff out slightly pissed off with some of the jokes people have made about the situation.

"I wonder if the train in PT gear like ours? I wouldn't mind doing exercises if we had broads doin' them with us" Perco ponders a thoughtful look on his face. Lieb, Tab, Tipper and Luz all stare at seemingly nothing for a moment before they break out into smirks. Clearly they had imagined girls in tight shorts and shirts running around getting sweaty, well I assume that because that's what I imagined and it was a glories image. Lieb is the first one to speak after our short silence appreciated the female form.

"Come on enough yapping let's get on the train and find a good seat quick"

With that we shuffle on to the carriage and find a compartment.

* * *

July-August 1943 Fort Bragg North Carolina

Fort Bragg was a staging area for deployment; from the moment we got there we knew we'd be heading off to war soon. Everything about the place was better than anywhere we'd been before, the food was edible and actually tasty, the beds had mattresses and were almost comfortable and the showers had hot water, unlike the usually ice-cold ones. We were also issued new gear, fresh uniforms, boots and weapons.

We spent the majority of our time practicing shooting at the firing ranges. The uncertainty of the future was weighing heavy on all of us, rumours and bets about deployment were spread around the camp. We didn't know if we were heading East or West, to the Pacific, Mediterranean or Europe. I had placed a large bet that we were going to go Europe; I only chose it because of Danny. Danny said he had a feeling that we were gonna fight the Krauts. He has always been luckier at gambling than me so I trust his gut instinct.

On Sunday August 22nd we made our way to the station once more. Twenty trains were waiting to take us to our unknown destinations. The directions the train took us determined whether or not we were going to fight the Japs or Krauts. There was a band playing for us and the Red Cross girls cried their eyes out waving us off. We eventually found out that the trains were heading north. That ruled out the Pacific, we would have gone west. Skip was pissed as he had placed a significant bet on us going to the Pacific. Danny could be right in his prediction.

Camp Shanks was our last stop off in America. We got drunk on whiskey the night before we were set to move out. Some of the fellas had never drunk anything stronger than beer before so became drunk quickly, I'd drunk whiskey many a time so it took longer for me to feel its effects. According to Skinny I was reciting paragraphs from the Preparation For Overseas manual by heart, I had bored everyone to death. I had tried to study the manual as much as I could before we shipped out, I was even reciting in my sleep, so Luz claims. The next morning all of the men who drank the night before had huge hangovers, my head felt like someone was hitting a baseball bat against it constantly. The Donut Dollies were a godsend that morning, we all needed as much coffee and donuts we could get, being on a boat in the middle of the ocean a decent coffee joint could not be found. We said goodbye to the Red Cross girls on the pier and we were taken to the shipyard for departure.

* * *

Monday September 6th 1943 Brooklyn Naval Shipyard

Smog blankets the busy shipyard, though busy is an understatement, it was overcrowded, thousands of men walking towards the ship that will take us away from our homeland. We all had our bags slung over our shoulders. We queue to walk on the gangplank one at a time and board the five deck liner. I've never been on a boat before, never wanted to but now I had to. Sobel had sent out letters to our families informing them of our departure. Everything we had prepared for was coming true now. Glancing down I see the life jacket they'd told us to wear, the name of the boat printed on it, SS Samaria. Growing agitated by the wait I look around at the giant cranes lifting jeeps and cargo onto the relatively small ship.

Eventually it was my turn to board, after climbing the steep plank single file we were assigned a number after we told them our name. We filed onto the upper decks, squeezing against the railings, it was clear that the boat was fuller than it should be. It took most of the day before they pulled the gangplank away and we slowly moved off. I started to feel queasy at the slight movement, already dreading the thought of the sea sickness that no doubt will plague me for the next week or so.

The Statue of Liberty stood proudly among the New York skyline. This is it. The last time I'd probably see America for a long while, I was off to war, we were off to war, to fight, and to kill. I don't know what the other fellas were thinking in the moment that we watched the symbol of freedom go past, what I do know is that we all saluted it. We were quiet for the entire time it was in view, the weight of the situation hitting home now for all of us. Even the usually jolly Luz was silent in front of me; he was leaning against the metal bars, smoking his cigarette watching the receding statue. I decided that I'd had enough of standing outside after a few minutes, I'd noticed a few others had already started to go below deck, to find their assigned bunks, we had to share with another guy, and I was sharing with Liebgott.

* * *

Below deck was like a rat race, it was cramped like a tin of sardines and it already smelled not even a day into the journey. It could only get worse; packing thousands of sweaty smelly men in such small spaces was not a good idea. It was hot and a thick layer of sweat was already establishing itself on my body. There was hardly any room to walk between the high rows of bunks. There was men everywhere, you bashed into people, tripped over outstretched legs, or body's sleeping and sitting on the floor. I found Skip on my way down to where Easy was sleeping, he was still sore about the bet over going to the South Pacific.

"I'm tellin ya Jimmie this is fucked up" Skip says as we manoeuvre ourselves between people's dangling limbs, bodies and bunks. I can already tell where this conversation is going.

"Yeah I know Skip" if I humour him it might stop him his rant. He doesn't though he still carries on taking as we get close to our bunks.

"Right now some lucky bastard's are headed for the South Pacific" he takes a small pause, Turing round to glance at me the looks forward again before continuing with the same rant he's being saying since we found out that we were heading this way, he was like a broken record. "He'll get billeted on some tropical island, sitting under a palm tree with six naked girls helping him cut up coconuts so he can feed the flamingos" Squeezing through a small gap past some of the fellas who had already reached their respective sleeping area I keep my mouth shut and letting Skip do the talking, I wasn't in the mood for much chitchat.

"Flamingos are mean they bite" One of the fellas lying on his bottom bunk speaks after hearing Skip's comment, the soldier next to him cracks a small joke trying to lighten the mood in the stuffy cramped ship.

"So do the naked native girls" Perco who was walking behind me pitches in when he passes the mans bed "With any luck"

By this point we have reached the bed that Skip was assigned he clambered his way to it. I see Lieb sat on his bunk. He locks eyes with me and nods in acknowledgment of my presence. I stumble to climb up and sit next to him. Reaching into my back pocket I pull out a carton of Lucky Strikes, I slip four sticks out and hand two to Lieb who had pulled out his lighter in anticipation, he lit both our smokes as we slipped the other behind our ears, ready to be used after we finished the first one. We sat in silence letting the other members of Easy do the talking. Neither of us seemed to be in the speaking mood.

"Hey guys I'm glad I'm going to Europe" Toye says from his bunk on the opposite row of ours a couple down the line. "Hitler gets this across the windpipe" I can just make out a switch blade open in his hands before he continues "Roosevelt changes Thanksgiving to Joe Toye Day and pays me $10,000 a year for the rest of my fucking life" I wouldn't put it past the crazy son of a bitch if he did find Hitler, Toye was notoriously a fighter.

"What if we don't get to Europe, what if they send us to North Africa?" Smokey wonders out loud from his bunk above Toye. I severely hope we don't go to Africa.

"My brother's in North Africa he says it's hot" Bill states the fucking obvious, I was about to break my silence to comment but the red-headed Irish member of Easy spoke up.

"Really it's hot in Africa?" Malark sarcastically bites back; it caused me to smile slightly as it stump out the last of my smoke.

"Shut up, point is it don't matter where we go once we get into combat the only person you can trust is yourselves and the fella next to you" Bill was right no matter where we are going to fight we have to be able to trust the men we were there with. I vaguely hear Toye mumbling something about the only people you can trust are paratroopers. Luz who had obviously decided to come below deck now had appeared in front of his bunk, as he clambers his way to the highest bunk, his gear knocking around and hitting him and others he makes an extremely valid point.

"Oh yeah, what if that paratrooper turns out to be Sobel?" I severely hoped that I wasn't anywhere near Sobel when we did eventually drop into where ever we were going. He would be a sever liability and would no doubt get himself and probably the whole company killed within a day of the war. I did not want to die due to some incompetent fool like Sobel. Just the thought of that bastard made my blood boil, I grab the second cigarette from behind my ear and light up, and I glance to my left to see that Lieb had also lit up again. He was hunched over playing with the smoke between his hands.

"You ok?" I ask him quietly.

"Yeah I'm fine just want to get of this damn boat already, its making me feel sick"

"I know we haven't even been on it a day yet and its making me feel ill" I reply back with a small smile, I take a long drag of my cigarette, savouring the feeling of relief it provides me. One of the other guys had made a comment about hooking up with Winters if he was stuck with Sobel and Bill had an opinion on this, me and Lieb listen to him explain his feelings on the ginger officer.

"I like Winters he's a good man but when bullets flyin', I don't know if I want a Quaker fighting for me" Bill seemed to have an obsession with people's religious views; he has done since the early days at Camp Toccoa.

"How do you know he's a Quaker?"

"He ain't Catholic" Bill a Catholic like the majority of the company held the view that if you weren't a catholic then it was wrong. I didn't agree with his attitude, I myself a Catholic had many friends back home who were in fact Jewish. Bill had a problem with Jews as well, several times at Toccoa he and Lieb had gotten into fights over it; they would knock each other about and punch until someone broke it up. Despite the animosity between them, they always managed to make peace in a way. After knocking the life out of each other they wouldn't talk for a few days then they would eventually make up and play the odd card game together, this cycle would repeat itself endlessly. I could see where the current conversation was going and Lieb could too. He was playing with his smoke again listening intently, getting more and more agitated by Bills strong views.

"Neither's Sobel" Yeah Bill was going to mention Jews again.

"That prick's a son of Abraham" He's gone and done it now, Lieb was wound up tight like a spring, he was ready to recoil. He was unsurprisingly pissed.

"He's what?" Joe asks indignantly though he clearly heard what Bill said.

"He's a Jew" Sometimes I could throttle Bill for his attitude towards none Catholics. Lieb by now had lost it and threw his cigarette to the ground.

"Fuck" he curses as he leaps down from the bunk. He approaches Bill who was stood up now they were both squaring for a fight. I slide down of the bunk ready to break them up if anything does happen. "I'm a Jew" standing toe to toe, they glare into each other's eyes.

"Congratulations. Get your nose out of my face" Bill spits out as he shoves Lieb back. This movement is all it takes to cause Joe to boil over, he swings to punch Bill, and Bill blocks him. A fight breaks out. I leap over trying to pull the strong men apart; nearly every guy in the area is trying to pull them apart now. It was neither the time nor place for altercations, we needed to band together not be tearing each other apart and we certainly shouldn't be fighting over the dick Sobel.

* * *

Wednesday September 8th 1943 SS Samaria in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean

_The knock at the door jolted me awake; I had fallen asleep waiting for pa to come home from work. Mom went up to bed a few hours earlier, she was ill again and needed to rest, the doctor told her that she should rest as much as she could. Father told me that I should look after her. He should have been home by now, he normally walked by and made it home by nine o clock, it was now gone eleven. Opening the door two looming figures __are illuminated by the__ pale moon light. I freeze in fear…_

I wake up in a cold sweat with my uniform clinging to my skinny body, lying on my bunk in this godforsaken ship, Lieb's feet in my face, he was still fast asleep. I hadn't had the nightmare in years and never thought I would again, I am just thankful that Joes boot to the face woke me up before the worse part happened. I wanted to forget about the night but my brain thought otherwise. Thinking of Lieb we managed to break up the fight between Lieb and Bill quickly. We kept them separated for a while; Bill chose to stay above deck as he started to feel queasy with the movement of the boat and the smell that was not helping. The smell had gotten worse it was unbearable.

Sighing I haul myself off the bunk, sliding off and hitting the ground with a small thud. I need to find something to distract me from the horrible dream. I spot Luz, Malark, Grant, Shifty, Tab and Skip playing cards, gambling will be a good distraction for me. I make my way over walking past sleeping troopers.

"Mind if I join, couldn't sleep?" I ask as I sit next to George, he was preparing to deal out the cards for whatever game they were playing.

"Sure the more the merrier, I'm looking forward to taking your money" Luz says with his signature grin. His jovial personality already having its desired effect on me. I couldn't help but smile with him.

"Nah I'm lookin forward to spending' your money Luz, what we playing?" I address the group of fellas.

"Seven-card stud" Shift answers as Luz shuffles the cards in preparation of the game.

After several games George was the one who was right, my notoriously bad luck with gambling persisted. I've lost over $200, I just hope Danny's bet comes through and that we are going to Europe.

"Cheer up James" Luz laughs at me as I hand over my money.

"Yeah better luck next time buddy" Malark exclaims as he takes his cut of his winnings, the lucky Irish bastard always managed to win something.

"It's alright James Shifty lost a lot of money as well" Skip chuckles.

"Shut up" both me and Shift yell at the same time which caused our sour moods to break, I don't know if the smell had gotten to our heads, or the movement of the boat rocking had made us lose our marbles but in that moment the seven of us were in hysterics. All thoughts of the dream gone and the impending moment that Easy joins the goddam war had left our heads for that wonderful fleeting moment.

"Will you shut the fuck up, I'm trying to sleep here" Toye yells angrily from his bed. We all quiet down for a few seconds before we burst out into a raucous of laughter once more. I could only wish that these moments of fun could last forever and all the responsibilities and uncertainty of life would disappear. All I and the others could do was cherish them and enjoy them while we could because soon wed be getting off this boat and fighting, fighting to survive.


	7. Chapter Seven: England's green

**Just a short note to say thank you to **Luckynumber28** and **war sage** for such positive and lovely comments I really appreciate them, they really make me smile :-) Also thank you to those who have faved and followed :D**

**I hope you like the chapter and I hope it's not too boring. I struggled to write this, I'm itching to get into combat but don't want to rush the story, I could write thousands of chapters on their time in England but that would be dull, anyway onwards with the chapter! Enjoy...or don't it's fine if you don't.**

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**Chapter Seven: England's green &amp; pleasant Land**

Firday September 17th 1943 Aldbourne England

I don't know what I had expected when I arrived in Britain. The only exposure to British life I have ever seen was through the movie screens and the news reels. After the ten long days on that goddamn ship we were all ready to get off, and onto dryland and see for ourselves the country that had been at war with Hitler for years. The port of Liverpool was our first brief view of England; it was as smoggy as the Brooklyn shipyard we had left, the industrial activity made the air thick and heavy. The effects of Hitler's attacks still clear on the city landscape. Destroyed, burnt out buildings and rubble still marred the streets. It was unlike anything I had ever seen back home, despite the fact it was a city there were no skyscrapers. During the short walk we had from the boat to the trains I spotted only two buildings that towered over the rest it astounded me.

We boarded trains and were taken down south towards our new temporary home. The change in the landscapes during the train journey surprised me; there was a variety of different types of scenery, many green fields, forests, trees, hills and flatlands. Though Britain was small, it had more variety in terrain than I had seen across a number of state lines back home. It rained the entire journey down so it was no surprise that the greenery was so plentiful. We had to march the final distance to the village we were stationed at, it was called Aldbourne. I was in complete shock when we arrived there. Webster described it as a movie set, it was surreal. Small cottage houses with thatched roofs were dotted around winding narrow lanes. A large patch of luscious green grass sat in the center of the village, houses, a shop and other buildings surround it. I later found out that it was called a village green. We were led to our barracks and informed that for the next few days, starting that day we would learn about British customs.

That was yesterday. We are currently in a lecture on British customs. We were told this morning that for two hours today and each day for four days we will be studying up on British life and culture. For the rest of the day we will be training. The training regime looks like it's going to be more intense than Toccoa, Benning and Bragg combined. It's not surprising though, seeing as the invasion is ever approaching.

"Turn to the section on Britain At War" the instructor tells the group. Looking down at the table I flip open the cover of my copy of the Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain. Slicking through the pages I spot the correct chapter. The sound of pages turning fills my ears for a few seconds, then silence. The instructor noticing that we had found the correct place begins reciting one of the paragraphs.

"_British Women at War. A British woman officer or non-commissioned officer can and often does give orders to a man private. The men obey smartly and know it is no shame." _He pauses for a second as some of the men let out sniggers; the thought of a dame bossing them around clearly amused them. The man begins to pace between the rows of benches and desks that have been set up for our lessons. Once the noise had quieted he continues to read my eyes follow along the page. "_For British women have proven themselves in this war. They have stuck to their posts near burning ammunition dumps, delivered messages afoot after their motorcycles have been blasted from under them." _ This makes me think of Esther, it could be her in that situation._ "They have pulled aviators from burning planes. They have died at the gun posts and as they fell another girl has stepped directly into the position and "carried on." There is not a single record in this war of any British woman in uniformed service quitting her post or failing in her duty under fire" _The dark hair sergeant stops and looks at us. "The women at war here are respected for the works that they do so you should respect them too while you're here" He orders, some of the fellas who were laughing before laugh again. Ignoring this and the instructor who had moved on to another subject my mind turned to my sister. Esther will be helping with the war effort soon and it scared me to death. If anything happens to her I wouldn't know that to do.

"Yoo-hoo Jimmie anyone home? We've got training with Lt Welsh in five!" Luz laughs as he slings an arm over my shoulder harshly. Shit I have been so wrapped up in my thoughts to notice everyone leaving the room the only saving grace was that Welsh was a good officer, he joined Easy just before we came over to England, he wasn't the same as Winters but he was still a respectable officer in his own way.

"Shit sorry fellas lets go"

* * *

Sunday October 19th 1943 Aldbourne England

The training is extensive now. We've been conducting marches of varying lengths practically every day of the week. Lectures on map reading, trench digging, first aid, German weapons, chemical warfare, traps, how to disarm mines, communications and an array of other subjects are frequent. We jump often; our feet go numb in the grey clouded sky. The feeling of flying still thrills me every time. The first jump over here didn't go to plan for 2nd platoon, they missed there DZ by miles. This was awkward for them but also useful. When we do drop into combat we could be split up. We need to find our way on our own as well as a unit. We train on the firing range often, Sobel nearly getting shot on most occasions.

If you ignored the constant gloomy wet weather and the limeys you'd think we were back in Toccoa. We train six days a week focusing on combat conditions with k rations and horrible British food. We are rationed on everything now, cigarettes, candy, gum, soap, matches and razors. They only rest we get from the repetitive monotonous days, miserable weather and food is when we go the Blue Boar or the Crown and when we get mail around once every two weeks. We drink some vile tasting warm beer and play some darts. Some of the fellas would chase the broads, Bill in particular. I never know if I will find a girl hiding in the barn barracks of the sergeants. I try to write to my siblings and Esther's as much as I can. The boy's respective boot camps are nearly completed and Vern is nearly finished her training. I received the pay-out from the bet, $650 in total. Danny was pleased when he found out; he said that was proof that he was far luckier than I. I wouldn't argue with that.

* * *

Uneasiness has slowly crept over Easy as the 82nd stationed nearby told us about combat in Africa and the Mediterranean. The reality of death and inevitability of it has struck many of the men. It has had a strong effect on Sobel. He is far more sadistic and incompetent than ever before. I am unfortunately stuck with him and Evans on the field exercise today. Tipper is in charge of the map as always but Captain Sobel insists that he is good with directions and doesn't need help from anyone even though he clearly does.

Evans is in charge of 1st squad whilst I'm in charge of 2nd and Sobel is in charge of 3rd. Bill and Lieb were happy this morning as they were with Winters and didn't have to put up with Sobel's bullshit. We are supposed to go to an intersection and meet up with 2nd platoon by a certain time so we could complete our objective; I doubt that we will get there before the invasion the way the day has gone so far.

The wet mud sloshes underneath my boots as we run in formation over the familiar farmers' fields, luckily the rain has stopped for now. Over the past month we have gotten to know Aldbourne's terrain inside out. I can tell just by looking at the approaching barbed wire fence that we are in the wrong position all thanks to our Captain. As we get nearer to the fence Perco and Luz who are running at the front of the group with Sobel, Tip and Evans, raise their hand to signal us to stop. Sobel looks bewildered whilst he discusses something with the two men stood directly next to him. The men in front of me slow down to a stop. I step around them and begin to approach a very confused Sobel and hopefully help him out of this mess. Sobel however has other ideas for me.

"Perconte, Luz and Larsen get the men…" he stumbles over his words "get them ba…. Take cover behind those trees." He manages to spit out his orders.

"All right lets go"

"Move it out fellas"

"Let's go, get into cover" simultaneously the three of us tell the guys what to do. We all begin to run towards the thick cluster of trees a short distance away from the fence.

When we finally reach the trees we crouch down guns in hand. I am stood in the middle of the group and vaguely hear some of the men discussing with Luz over impersonating Major Horton. Now as an NCO I should not be condoning this but my strong distaste of the bumbling idiot stood lost in the field over there overrules this. Sobel could be getting us killed soon so I have no qualms with the fellas having some fun at his expense. I walk over to Perco and Luz just in time to see the radioman begin his impersonation. A crowd of men huddled around the dark-haired entertainer of the company.

"Is there a problem, Captain Sobel?" Luz's voice says sounding scarily close to that of Horton's it will no doubt fool Sobel, and with Tipper with him certainly playing along he will be hoodwinked.

"Who said that?" Sobel's shout makes some of the fellas, me included snigger. "Who broke silence?" His annoyed voice makes me want to burst out in explosive laughter but Luz who is trying to concentrate and continue his impression hisses at us.

"Shhhhh" Luz looks at me; I manage to quiet down slightly as the other fellas do the same. Tipper, Sobel and Evans appear to be discussing the situation before Luz speaks up once again.

"What is the goddamn holdup, Mr Sobel?!" God Luz's impersonations are the best it is becoming increasingly difficult for me not to laugh and ruin the whole thing.

"A fence, sir a barbed wire fence" This causes me and the majority of the others to laugh out loud. Luz whilst grinning tries to quite us but fails. He continues on with his acting.

"Oh that dog just ain't gonna hunt" more laughs from me escape my mouth. I haven't laughed this much in a long while. "Now you cut that fence and get this goddamn platoon on the move." Luz orders.

"Yes sir!" Sobel yells back quickly.

"Jesus Christ Luz that was spectacular you could be a Hollywood actor" I manage to say as I slap my arm against his.

"Well I do have the face of an actor" he jokes back with his signature smile.

"God that was somethin'" Perco exclaims as he slaps Luz on the opposite arm.

"We're moving out let's go!" Sobel yells towards us halting our laughter. Standing up I order the fellas into positon and get them to move out. As we approach Sobel it was clear to see that he had followed Luz's instructions. He had cut the fence. The cows that had once occupied the field had now split up and started to roam around the adjacent land. I can't begin to imagine how angry the farmers are going to be after this.

Running late due to the fence and Sobel's lack of common sense has resulting in us running directly down the middle of the winding country road. I have told him several times that this is not the best strategy; we should stick to the fields behind hedgerows where we had some undergrowth to hide in. Sobel however feels that we need to make up time by taking the direct route. This is bullshit we would most certainly be dead by now if this was actual combat. I am beyond done with Sobel. To make matters worse Sobel has begun shouting "Hi-yo silver" periodically. After a long time of running we reach the intersection. Unsurprisingly Winters and the other guys were already there. Sobel looks upset about this. Winters doesn't speak to him. He looks at us then turns towards his men and thanks them. It must be great to work with him; at least you have more chance of survival.

* * *

December 1943 Aldbourne England

Sobel has been pissing us NCO's off for a long while now, its common knowledge that the whole of Easy despises him however the hatred towards him has increased dramatically over the past few months. Several factors have contributed his lack of skills in combat, his harsh revoking of weekend passes and one particular event that happened in October. The biggest incident that tipped us over the edge involved Winters. Winters had been involved in an incident relating to latrine duty and inspections. Ultimately it had led to Winters possibly getting a court-martial. Sobel had unfairly treated Winters and was abusing his power. I was thoroughly pissed when Tab, Ranney and Harris told me that Strayer had put Winters on battalion mess. Nixon was doing everything he could to try and find a loophole but us sergeants feel that we should do something. There is no way in hell am I going into combat with a CO like Sobel. We have a plan in mind and are having a meeting to discuss it further.

Harris and Ranney invited all of the NCO's to meet up at the barn. As I walk towards the group of eight men I notice that only one or two hadn't bothered to come, Evans being one of them. I sit myself down, squeezing in on the end of the table next to Martin as the table is meant to seat eight people not nine, the cold wind from the large barn door bashes against my back, I take a sip of my coffee in an attempt to warm me up, the rain outside not heavy enough to make me soaked but enough to cause all my clothing to be damp. The sound of the rain hitting the tin roof of the barn, the occasional animal bleating or clucking were the only sounds that filled the silence amongst the group. Placing the white mug down on top the wooden table with a sigh, I reach into my breast pocket and pull a cigarette out, taking a long drag after lighting it. I see Bill doing the same with a solemn expression. Everyone in the room looks serious; the usual joking guys are now stony faced. What we are about to do could result in our deaths but I am willing to take this risk.

"Do you think that's everyone?" Tab asks us as he glances around to check how many of us are here.

"Yeah I don't think Evans is gonna come" plumes of smoke leave my mouth and nose as I speak.

"Nah he would happily follow that bastard into combat any day" Bill seethes while he flicks the ash into the glass ashtray on the table in front of him.

"What sane man would follow him into combat?" Ranney sounds bitter; he's been the most annoyed by the situation involving Winters and Sobel.

"Evans isn't sane" I mutter under my breath so quiet that the group can't hear however the two men closets to me must have as Tab and Johnny nod slightly agreeing with me. Bill looks around the group as he places his half-finished smoke down before he opens his mouth to speak.

"Not me" No one can argue with that. We wouldn't be having this meeting now I we didn't think that Easy will cease to exist once we drop, all thanks to Sobel's issues. Something has to be done and I will be doing it today, regardless of the others.

"So were going through with this right?" Grant asks from his seat on the opposite side of Johnny. He looks at each of us expecting an answer. Ranney is the first to speak out.

"We gotta do something" Lipton sighs in responsive to his brash statement. Lip is probably the most level headed sergeant out of all of us so the potential consequences of this are weighing heavily on him. Lip is a good leader and friend. He is also the one who will be completing the task. He's the CQ tonight so he volunteered to do the job.

"All right good, we all better be clear about the consequence." Lip glances at each of us slowly before addressing us in a serious tone.

"I don't care about the consequences" Johnny snaps next to me cut off Lips speech.

"John we could be lined up against a wall and shot" he pauses for a moment before continuing in his grave tone "now I'm ready to face that" he takes another small pause as he turns to face Bull, Bill and the other fellas down the table, "and every one of us had better be too." he finishes his sentence and silence takes over the room once more. The silence feels like an eternity.

Bill locks eyes with Lip and breaks the agonizing silence "I will not follow that man into combat". Lip nods slowly.

"Me neither" Bull speaks up for the first time.

"I ain't" I say seriously, hell would have to freeze over before I jump with him. Lip nods once again as he sighs.

"All right then let's do it" Lips voice is barely above a whisper yet we all hear it. That's our cue, the confirmation that we are going through with this possibly disastrous stunt. I reach into the pocket where my cigarettes are kept, pulling out the well-used pencil. The others doing the same I see Grant licking the lead of his. Johnny passes me a sheet of plain white paper.

"I hear by…" Gonorrhea pauses as he dictates like a big businessman to his secretary, the sound of pencils hitting paper fills my ears. I write as Bill talks, my cursive handwriting as neat as I can make it. "…no longer" this is it I could be striped of my rank. "…wish to serve" I could be shot for this. "…as a non-commissioned officer" I might not see my family every again for this. "…in Easy company" but with all the risks I am willing to take, if it means my death in order to save all my friends lives from being destroyed by that man so be it. The cacophony of pencil on paper ceases as each man signs his name at the bottom of the letter. Placing my pencil back down on the desk I hand my sheet and our fate to Lipton. He takes them, shuffles them and looks at us one last time.

"All right boys, Good luck" he stands up with another sigh and heads towards Sobel's office. Silence blankets the room once more, each of us left in our own thoughts.

* * *

"I ought to have you all shot!" Sink was fuming. I shift slightly on my feet, still standing at attention in his office next to Grant and Bill. He shifts slightly in his seat behind his heavy oak desk; I can't help but stare at the men walking past the large bay window behind his head. We had been ordered here after he had received our letters of resignation. I knew he would be angry. "This is nothing less than an act of mutiny while we prepare for the godamn invasion of Europe" He pauses in his scolding. He is right though. We are about to invade and we've quit our posts. But I still stand by my decision, he has to realise that Sobel can't lead Easy any longer.

"Sgt. Harris?"

"Sir"

"Turn in your stripes collect your gear, you are hereby transferred out of my regiment" Harris salutes instantly.

"Sir"

"Get out" Sink orders harshly, Harris marches out of the room. We knew there would be scapegoats so this isn't surprising. What is surprising though to me anyway is what Sink says next. I continue to stare straight ahead as he talks.

"Sgt. Ranney?"

"Sir"

"Consider yourself lucky I'm only busting you to private" damn he is lucky. We could have all been killed, yet the only consequence has been Harris getting transferred and Ranney losing his stripes. That being said we were still in trouble with Sink.

"All of you NCOs have disgraced the 101st Airborne" Sink's voice booms louder than ever. I have to restrain myself from flinching. I swallow down my growing nerves. He could change his mind any minute. The nervousness of the other men was almost palpable in the air.

"You should consider yourself lucky that were on the eve of the largest action in the history of warfare which leaves me no choice but to spare your lives. Get out of my office and get out of my sight" my right hand snaps into a salute, the other fellas doing it at the same time.

"Get" Sink yells once more as he looks down at his lap. We file out the office in a neat orderly line. I never thought that my life would be spared because of the impending invasions, I am thankful for the war for one thing then. Once we reach the door of the manner house turned HQ we break the neat lines. We walk in silence, the events that have happened moments ago lying heavy on us. The only sound was the rhythmic patter of our boots hitting the gravel path. I can see a truck in the distance. As we near closer the figure of the man who was a major contributing factor to this 'mutiny' is stood with a clipboard counting off mess hall equipment. He looks towards us; our hands once again snap into a salute, he salutes in return. With that we return to the barn and wait to see what will happen next. I sit down in the same seat I had for the meeting. I light up and smoke. I try to process the situation.

I can only hope that what we've done is worth it, I hope Sobel is removed from Easy and that Winters can return. Despite the angry lecture from Sink and the departure of Harris we had gotten off lightly and I have no regrets about this what so ever and I have a feeling none of my fellow NCOs and friends have either, Sobel needs to be gone, and fast.


	8. Chapter Eight: D-Day

**Thank you **Byron W.4** and **war sage **for your reviews, as always greatly appreciated!**

**One note before reading this, as you have probably gathered I have been using numerous books to help make this as historical accurate as I can whilst also following the TV show. This chapter turned out to be ten times harder than any of the others to write because of this. The TV show changed the plane sticks and chalks around in addition to changing platoons. I have used elements of both but found myself confused sometimes. I apologise in advance if the information in this chapter is wrong and/or confusing. I also apologise as I feel this chapter is not my best work. I might change it in the future but for now it will stay like this.**

**Sorry for such a lengthy a/n. I hope you enjoy this chapter thank you, yes you, very much for reading! :D**

* * *

**Chapter Eight: D-Day**

Wednesday May 31st 1944 Upottery England

Rows of pyramidal tents and well-trodden soggy mud line the long cement runway; this is Easy's home until the big drop. We are sealed in from the outside world, living in the marshaling area anticipating the news we have been waiting to hear for two years now. Upottery airfield has been taken over by thousands of Americans preparing for the impending invasion. The limeys stationed here have been ordered to dress in kraut clothes, a tactic aimed to familiarizes us with their presence. The long lines of C-47 planes are intimidating. The whole situation feels surreal to me. We have trained and planned excessively for years, we completed a 'dress rehearsal' "Operation Eagle" in May, now it was the real deal. My boots slap against the gravel ground as I make my way towards the briefing tent.

"Hey Jimmie where the fuck you goin'?" Lieb's voice calls out. My eyes scan the busy area until they fall upon a group of my friends. Lieb, Tab, Tip, Luz, Alley and Perco are huddled round each other cigarettes in mouths reading a magazine. I stride towards them and stop within a few feet of the men.

"A meeting about the invasion with the other sergeants and platoon leaders" I say jerking my head towards the large tent that has been erected for briefing us.

"Oh so you fellas get to see what's inside the tent but we don't" Perco says slightly annoyed, many of the men have been dying to see the information being held inside that tent, Frank being one of them.

"Everyone will get to see it soon it's just that we get to see it first" my eyes travel to my wristwatch, shit I'm nearly late. "Shit sorry fellas I have to go I don't want to be late for such an important meeting, I'll see you guys later at the card game" I yell towards the group as I walk quickly towards my destination, the replies of the men unheard.

Stepping through the flaps of the tent I breathe a sigh of relief. I am not late. Making my way towards the group of men standing around impressive looking sand tables I notice the array of information displayed. Numerous aerial photographs of god knows where are pinned around a map of what appears to be France. When I reach the group Iock eyes with our intelligence officer Nixon, he is the one who will be explaining everything to us today.

"Gentleman, looks like everyone's here so shall we start?"

"Sainte-Marie-du-Monte causeway number one" Lt Meehan gestures towards the familiar labeled map that was pinned to the back wall of the tent "causeway number two" he continues.

Taking a drag of my smoke I let my eyes wander around the group of privates who are hearing this plan for the first time. Liebgott and Popeye are sat next to me, both engrossed in the lieutenants talk, I myself not that engrossed, I have studied these maps, diagrams, photos and sand tables since the plan had been explained to me and the other sergeants. I could recite the plan off by heart, I know the other outfits missions off by heart also. "….links Omaha and Utah into one continues beach head" Meehan explains to the attentive men as I tune my ears back into his speech.

"Each trooper will learn this operation and know his and every other outfits missions to the detail" Meehan finishes, a thought crosses my mind. The invasion has been planned, and is now being set in motion. There is no stopping now, within the next few days; even hours we could be dropped behind enemy lines in France, which alarms me somewhat. All the preparation and training no matter how good can fully prepare you for what we are about to do, though I am nervous I am ready. I will not let my fear take over. I am sure even the toughest men in the company are anxious. I need to focus on the plan, remember all my training and look after the men in my squad. Meehan's voice drags me out of my thoughts once again.

"When it's time for you to know we'll let you know. In the meantime, study these sand tables, maps and reconnaissance photos until you can draw a map of the area by memory" I already can. "We will drop behind this Atlantic wall five hours before the 4th infantry lands at Utah. Between our assembly area and the battalion objective there is a German garrison right here in this area Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Easy Company will destroy that garrison."

* * *

The next couple of days were nerve wracking. The whole company were on edge, everyone was itching to get into combat, literally. They treated our with anti-gas substance and now thy make us itch even more than they did before. So we were sweaty, itchy and smelly. The only positive point about waiting around in the marshaling area was the grub. We've had fresh white bread with butter and marmalade; I couldn't believe it when they served it us. I haven't seen white bread since we left the states. In the mornings fried eggs not powdered. It was glorious. Despite this however I couldn't quite shake the feeling that we were getting fed like they do with animals before slaughter. They were treating us to wonderful food then sending us to out potential deaths. I haven't told the boys what I think about this though. I let them enjoy, well savor the moments as much as they could, because within the next few days we'll be jumping into German territory and won't have any luxurious whatsoever.

* * *

Sunday June 4th 1944 Upottery England

"Jesus fucking Christ" Lieb exclaims as he picks up another piece of his equipment from the pile on the airfield concrete floor. His constant complaints about the weight of all the equipment is warranted mind. We have to be prepared for everything. "All this shit weighs more than me" he adds as he buckles up is musette bag.

"Well you are a skinny" Tab says next to Lieb as he picks up his parachute pack and moves it to the side out of the way of his other items. We had retrieved them from the regimental riggers this morning. Picking up my Mae West from my pile of things I lay it flat on the ground neatly. We have to carry an unbelievable amount of shit: three day supply of k-rations, chocolate, Charms, candy, coffee and coffee paraphernalia, ammo, M1, .45, bayonet, knife, canteen, 2 cartons of cigarettes, matches, webbing, gas mask, grenades, entrenching tool, Mae West life jacket, reserve chute and main chute. My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of Blithe's bag dropping to the floor, most of its content spilling out.

"Count yourself lucky, Luz has to carry the radio as well" I say as I help Blithe gather up some of his stuff that had fallen out of his bag when he dropped it.

"Yeah the poor son of a bitch I couldn't imagine jumping with that on my back" Tab agrees with me as I hand over Al stray objects, receiving a thank you from the quiet trooper. I turn my attention back to Tab and Lieb.

"Talbert" Vest's voice rings out somewhere among the vast number of swarming paratroopers. It must be mail call time.

"Floyd, Floyd M here" Tab yells back as the private approaches with his mail satchel slung over his shoulder a large package in hand.

"Got a package for ya, heavy condoms?" I wouldn't put is past Tab, it probably is.

"I don't know probably" Tab jokes as Vest runs off. I don't stick around to see what the parcel is however; I begin to follow the busy mailman in a quest for my letters.

"Hey Vest wait" I holler getting his attention. Lipton walks past asking everyone if they have signed the life insurance paperwork.

"Hey Jimmie you singed you G.I insurance?" He directs his attention towards me.

"Yeah Lip" I nod with a small smile on my face.

"Good wouldn't want your brothers and sisters missing out on $10,000" he smiles back, then proceeds further along the runway towards the main group of people. I turn my attention back to private Vest.

"Do you have anything for me?"

"Yeah shit sorry, I shouted your name earlier but someone said you were taking a piss somewhere" Damn my weak bladder when I'm nervous. Today was like jump training all over again. Thanking him as I take the two letters addressed to me, I make my way back towards Lieb and Tab. Just as I arrive I notice Tab holding a handgun. I can only assume that it came from the package. It sure beats condoms when it comes to preparing for an invasion.

"Hey Jimmie check it out, got it from the chief of police. Is that a letter from Esther?" Tab hands over the gun for me to examine. I turn it over in my hands a few times before handing it back.

"She's a beauty Tab and yeah it's from Esther" I look down at the neat cursive penmanship on the cream envelope. Running my hands over the lettering, I flip it over and tear the top off the envelope. I don't get the chance to read it however as Joe speaks up.

"See you fellas in a bit, I'm off to make some money" Lieb declares as he slaps mine and Tabs back. He had an idea earlier, seeing as he was a barber he decided to give haircuts for 15 ¢ each. Not a bad idea really. He cut my hair this morning, I had to pay him though nothing is free, he wanted to give me a Mohawk, and I refused, if he wanted me to have a Mohawk he had to have a Mohawk.

Joe dashes off towards a spot where he can cut. Just as I am about to attempt to read my letters for the second time Tab's voice stops me this time.

"Hey Jimmie haven't you got to go and get your leg bag from Martin?" he asks nonchalantly.

"Shit I knew I had forgotten something! See you boys later." Stuffing my mail into my pockets I run down the runway in search of Johnny I spot him just in front of a large group of men. I approach him, as I get closer he wordlessly hands me the offending item before walking off towards Lipton. Turning round, leg bag in hand I see Luz stood confused talking to the group of fellas. I notice Bill lying awkwardly on all his equipment eating ice cream. Malark is examining the British airborne invention perplexed.

"Does anybody have any idea how this thing works?" No one answered probably because none of us do. I certainly don't, I look at the contraption in my hand, and I can't fathom how to attach this thing. Sighing I lower myself down with a thud to the ground. The voice of a man yelling Sinks name progressively gets louder until he is directly next to me.

"Colonel Sink" he thrust a sheet of paper into my hand then continues yelling and throwing paper at each unsuspecting victim. I turn the sheet to the correct orientation and scan the printed words, Luz the ever vocal man decides to read aloud enthusiastically in his best impersonation, my eyes follow each letter as he speaks.

"Soldiers of the regiment: Tonight is the nights of nights" his voice falters and fades out to a near whisper, his tone instantly becomes serious. The reality of the day has hit him and judging by the faces of my fellow soldiers it has hit them too. "Today as you read this, you are en route to the great adventure for which you have trained for over two years" Luz stops reading. I continue to read the letter that has sealed our fate, there was no turning back now.

"That's why they gave us ice cream"

"Easy Company listen up!" Meehan's voice silences the noisy base. "Gather up around me. Move it come on gentleman." I begin to walk towards the direction of his voice, following the crowd. Eventually I can just make out the top of his head; I can only assume he was attending on a jeep or box seeing as he was visible above the large group.

"The channel coast is socked in with rain and fog. High winds on the drop zone. No jump tonight" he emphasizes the latter part of the sentence. This announcement causes many annoyed grumbles. Many of the men are impatient as it is but add to the nerves and anticipation of the invasion they were more irritable than ever. "The invasion has been postponed were on a 24 hour stand down. Drill sergeants take charge" with that proclamation Meehan steps down. The fact that the invasion isn't happing now is fucking annoying, however I would rather jump in the safest conditions then die because some of the men are so eager to kill Krauts that we jump in a storm. The meal they served us earlier steak, mashed potatoes and vegetables, unlimited coffee and ice cream sat heavy on my nervous stomach now, I wouldn't be surprised if I vomit later.

* * *

The uncomfortable matrass below my body creaks as I shift slightly. The tent completely silent, the rest of the fellas have gone to see the movie playing _Mr. Lucky_, or have gone to discuss the plan one final time. I'm not in the mood for movies. I'm not in the mood for sleeping either. Puffing on a smoke, thoughts of the invasion clog my brain. The plan runs through my head for the thousandth time, everything I have learnt and been told until this point speeds through my mind, is this what going insane feels like? Kill everyone, 10,000 Germans are waiting to kill us, use your knife or bayonet where possible, be quiet, take the high ground, take Douve bridge, the villages the causeways. Remember your passwords, Flash and Thunder, remember the click and the click-click of the cricket. Make sure your rifle and small arms are ready, our knife is loose and easily accessible. Remember how to control your chute, use the risers, land safely as you can, don't let the suspension lines tangle, don't set off your Mae West unless necessary and most of all try not to die Esther, Veronica, Mary, Betty, Danny, Ray, Tom and John are counting on me. Esther oh shit among all of this chaos I have forgotten to read the letter from Esther.

"Fuck" I curse out loud despite the fact I am alone. Quickly I thrust my hand into my pocket and pull out the opened envelope and the second unopened envelope with unfamiliar hand writing on it. I carefully unfold the crisp perfume soaked paper, inhaling and savoring the floral scent.

_To My Dearest Jim,_

_Happy Birthday, I wish that I could be with you to give you a birthday kiss. I cannot believe that you are twenty-six; it doesn't seem that long since we first met when we were seventeen. I will never forget that day, you rescued me from that dead hoofer Jonathan Webber and we danced the rest of the night together. I am glad to have met you that day. Life back home has been lonely as of late. With you been gone so long and my brother and your brothers leaving for training it has been eerily quiet. I have been visiting your sisters as often as my work schedule permits. We have been extremely busy recently. Betty is still a little upset about Veronica leaving but she is far better than she was before, she is turning into a fine women._

_I am writing to you now so that you get this letter before you depart England, I apologies if it's premature but I wouldn't want you to get it too late and likewise I apologize if it's come too late. I hope you are well and that you are prepared for the impending jump, I know you will be. Meehan sounds like he is the complete opposite of Sobel, he has common sense for starters so I feel happier knowing that Easy is in good hands. 2nd platoon's new lieutenant Buck Compton sounds like an interesting person. It's unusual for an officer to mix with enlisted men let alone gamble, I won't ask how much money you've lost in the craps games against him, I'm sure it's a large quantity. Saying goodbye to the people of Aldbourne must have been hard, you have spent nearly nine months there, I know I would feel upset if I was them, I hope it wasn't too hard for you._

_I am so proud of you and all of the men. I wish you luck and will pray for Easy Company's safety. I know that we might not be able to write as much when you go into combat so I'll tell you this now. You are a wonderful man James, I love you with all my heart, I hope that you will live through this and return home soon, we shall get married like we said we would, we will have children and live a long life._

_Good luck and God bless,_

_I love you with all my heart,_

_Esther_

Bright red lipstick marks cover the bottom of the paper I run my calloused hands over it. How I long to kiss the lips that made them once again. I slowly bring the sheet to my own lips, thankful that the other men are out; I place it next to my face and kiss the paper gently. I stare at the sheet for god knows how long before my attention turns to the mystery letter. The sound of ripping paper fills the tent. I tentatively reach inside the envelope. A small white rectangle piece of paper is it's only content. Pulling it out I examine it.

**Dear Jimmie, Good luck and give those krauts hell.**

The short typed message has no name at the bottom, how strange. I check the envelope to see if there are any clues on who sent it, but there isn't. I'll have to ask one of the guys or girls when I write to them next. Well if. I might die during this jump. No I won't, I will do everything in my power not to die. Too engrossed in my inner argument I fail to notice Martin enter the tent.

"You ok James?" he asks as he approaches his bunk.

"Oh yeah just thinkin' about the invasion, you ok?"

"Yeah we're all thinking about the invasion. Did you hear the news about Guarnere?"

"No"

"His brother's died he he's just found out"

"Fuck"

* * *

Monday June 5th 1944 Upottery England

Tonight is the night. The night we board the planes and head off into the sunset, towards France, towards the Germans and the war, the early hours of tomorrow morning we drop. D-day. The nerves of last night's sleepless night still present, but now in check. I have a job to do and I will do it to the best of my abilities. We are gathered once again on the airstrip, in front of the looming C-47s, oil paint had been passed around again and we greased up, our faces now black, a reflection of the mood. Everyone stony faced. Even the joker Luz, we are all lost in our own thoughts.

My shaking hands clip the last buckle on my parachute. Ranney who is stood next to me checks my buckle. We have been putting on and checking each other's equipment for what seems like eternity. We all want to make sure everything is correct. After finishing the final checks for the last time, we sit down in two neat lines of ten, the order we are set to jump. I am number 3.

"Sergeant Martin is handing out airsickness tablets, orders are to take one now and one thirty minutes in the air" our platoon leader Welsh addresses us as he stands in front of the open plane door. He is the jumpmaster for our stick, stick 68.

Martin reaches me and throws a box down, I catch it. Opening up the cardboard I pull out a pill, slip it into my mouth and swallow it dry. It tastes vile. Thinking of Martin, Bill had come to see him earlier, returning the letter from his wife. Bill was clearly pissed about his brother's death. I wouldn't want to be a German around him. Marin promised to meet with him at the meeting point, he felt guilty over the way that Bill had been told of the tragedy.

"Listen up. I'll see you at the assembly area, good luck" that's our queue to clamber into the metal bird. With all the equipment weighing us down we struggle to stand up. We flail like a turtle on its back. Welsh has to haul each of us of the ground. When he pulls me up I shake his hand. He nods and smiles at me then moves along the line. Slowly I make my way to the opening of the door. Dukeman is struggling to enter the small opening. The heavy chute pulls him down the steep steps. Slamming my hand against his ass I push him inside the plane the man in front of him pulls his arm assisting him in. I attempt to climb up, but fail resulting in whoever is behind me slapping my butt. I am thankful of the butt slap and Dukeman's haul up as I would not want to fall over now, I would never get back up.

Queasiness and drowsiness overtake me as I sit down on my assigned seat. The sickness pills do not agree with me. From the sweaty uncountable faces around me it seems many of the others feel the same. Welsh enters the plane then, he is eventually followed by Luz. The large radio pack he has to carry hindering his movements greatly. Before Luz takes his seat he approaches our leader.

"Lieutenant you got me as fifth man in your stick, with this on my back I'll never make it to the door" he says exhausted and exasperated. It's true I don't think Luz could jump unless he is the first man.

"Fine" Welsh huffs out "Cobb swap with Luz" Cobb pulls a disgruntle face before standing up and stumbling past me, to sit down where Luz was originally supposed to be. Luz gratefully plops himself down on the empty bench and sighs in relief, probably happy to be off his feet for a second.

The engines roar to life and the walls, floor, everything starts to vibrate and shake. The airplane slowly begins to move. The atmosphere thick with nerves. Everyone is quiet, some men play with their cigarettes or lighters, and some are smoking. Others are having hushed conversations between themselves, though with the intensity of the noise from the engines I'm surprised they can hear each other. A number are praying clutching rosary beads and hoping to god that they survive this. I sent a silent prayer this morning.

I remain silent, the sickness pills have made me feel sick and the lack of rest last night has made me utterly drained. As the plane picks up speed my tiredness increases. By the time we reach the end of the runway and the plane has begun to rise up from the ground at an alarming rate, my grasp on reality slowly seeps away. My hearing begins to dull down and my eyes begin to blur. I shut them welcoming the darkness of my eyelids. Leaning my head against the cold metal back wall I can feel my body slowly drift into sleep. I slump down further as each second passes, until eventually I am completely out like a light.


	9. Chapter Nine: H-hour: Baptism Of Fire

**Thanks for the review ****war sage glad you liked the last chapter ****:-) **

**Thanks for reading sorry for such a shitty chapter, try and enjoy it, I know it sucks I promise the next one will be better I swear!**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: H-hour: Baptism Of Fire**

D-Day June 6th 1944 Normandy France

My eyes snap open and my mind and body become alert. The sound of antiaircraft fire rings out loudly and the plane descends rapidly. No wonder I woke up. I don't know how long I was asleep for but from the noise that woke me up I can gather we are close to the DZ. The slight fear I had earlier now gone, my training begins to take over me.

The plane shakes dramatically as the ack-ack increases. The dark plane is illuminated sporadically by the tracers; I still can't make out the expressions of the men despite the short bursts of light and the small glow of cigarettes. I glance to the light above the door eager for it to turn on. The sound of explosions is added to the symphony of noise. We need to jump soon or we might crash into another plane or the ground. As if on cue the light glows red, Welsh who was also watching it looks up.

"Get ready" He yells over the racket of the engines, tracers and explosions. Everyone looks up towards the lieutenant.

"Stand-up" he commands from his standing position near the gaping door, I stumble up into place as the tracers increase in volume.

"Hook up" Without hesitation I hook the clasp onto the line, as soon as it's in place a loud clunk rocks the aircraft, a piece of ack-ack strikes the point where Welsh was sat just seconds before. The flak also whacks the light breaking it. This means we have no way of knowing when to jump. Despite this Welsh carries on.

"Sound off for equipment check" The shaking increases as does the firepower. I begin to check and pat down Martins gear meticulously as I feel the man behind me do the same.

"Ten Ok" One of the men shouts from the back of the bird, through the cacophony of noise it's hard to distinguish who is who.

"Nine Ok"

Clank more flak hits our plane

"Eight Ok"

Boom! Another explosion from somewhere in the sky, I selfishly hope it's not anyone I know.

"Seven Ok"

Bright flashes of light, clank-clank!

"Six Ok"

Flash Clank

"Five Ok"

Clank-clank boom

"Four Ok"

Jesus were flying fast

"Three Ok"

We're flying too fast

"Two Ok"

Fuck it's going to be a rapid fall

"One Ok"

Whoosh-ping shit what was that?

"I'm hit" I hear Cobb yell behind me.

"Can you stand?" Welsh asks quickly as he looks towards the injured man. I bet Luz is happy he swapped now. I look and see Cobb bent over in agony.

"No" Cobb barks out in pain and from his expression anger. It must be shit to be wounded before we even drop.

"Unhook him quickly" Welsh orders with a serious tone, some of the fellas quickly rush to unhook him as I turn back towards the front. Welsh looks anxiously out of the door as the jumpmaster of our stick he must decide when to jump now that the lights gone.

Our speed is increasing which is alarming we have never jumped so fast before; I just hope our training has been enough.

After a few seconds they have Cobb sitting on the bench. Welsh looks out the door for a few seconds before turning towards us, he stands there for a few moments longer before yelling. He must have decided its time.

"Go! Go! Go!" He yells as Luz kicks his leg bag out and jumps after it. Martin does the same. When I step into the threshold the sight alarms me. We are around 250 feet from the ground. I have little time to think about this though; I kick my leg bag and hope for the best. I leap out into the abyss. The wind is strong and my decent rapid. Within seconds my chute snaps open. A strong gale pushes me away from the other troopers who jumped out of my plane. The force of deployment stronger than I have experienced my body jars violently as I plummet towards the green fields. Vivid explosions of red and yellow fire balls swirl in and out of view. I struggle to gain control of the rigs as I hear a tearing sound glancing down at my body I see the cause of the sound. The prop blast has made my leg bag rip; it's hanging on a thread. Please for the love of god don't break. Everything I need is in there. Shit it's snapped off, it falls into a hedge. A few seconds later my body slams into the overgrown field. A large boom and a fireball erupt from the field next to me. A plane has crashed; quickly I throw my parachute off. I promptly give myself a once over slapping my hand on my limbs and torso, surprisingly I have no broken bones, considering the speed and height I just jumped from I would have expected a broken leg or ankle at least. My whole body is in pain though; I will be riddled with bruises for a few weeks I think. This has been the worst jump ever. I am pretty sure no one is in the correct position.

As soon as I am completely free from my parachute pack reserve chute and Mae West I begin to run towards my leg bag, my first priority is to get my gun. The Germans disagree, to add insult to injury the moment I get within a few feet of my stray bag a bout of machine gun fire rings out dangerously close to me. Fuck that. Turning around swiftly I sprint crouch towards a thick, dense wooded area. Slipping through a small opening in one of the hedges, I manage to get away from the Krauts shooting and the chaos of crashing planes and falling troopers.

I walk cautiously, I am lost somewhere in Normandy with no weapon other than a knife and bayonet. I need to find my bearings; I need to find other paratroopers. I need to find a way to our objective in time otherwise this whole jump would be pointless. The noises of fighting dim down the further I walk. The muddy well-trodden path under my boots squelches with each step. Keeping an eye out for any landmarks or sign posts that I can use for direction a snap of a twig makes me freeze in place. My eyes dart around the trees and undergrowth in search of the culprit of the noise, I spot two pairs of boots sticking out behind a tree. Reaching into my pants pocket whilst pulling out my knife I retrieve my cricket. I press my finger on the top but it doesn't make a sound. Shit. I glance at it, it is broken. It must have got damaged in the jump.

"Flash" I harshly call out the password hopefully only loud enough for the booted men to hear. No reply.

"Flash! Flash!" I try again my body tenses up; this could be it, killed by a kraut on my first day of war.

"Shit lighting, no I mean thunder I think … I can't remember please don't shoot I'm from New Jersey I swear" A panicked voice comes from the tree.

"We're American" A second shaky voice exclaims as the figures leap out from their cover. I take in their American paratrooper uniform and relax slightly, though not completely. Both are privates one extremely short with a mop of blond hair, the other taller leaner with short dark hair. I don't recognize either of them from Easy or Able Dog or Fox for that matter; in fact I don't recognize them from 506th. The patch on their uniforms confirms this, they are from the 82nd. They seem extremely scared, both clutching their M1 tight to their chest; I'm surprised their knuckles aren't turning white. The lucky bastards must have all there kit.

"Who are you?" I ask the nervous men.

"Private Pat Jenkins, but most people call me kid" the short blond boy replies before looking at the other man.

"Private Roy Moore"

"Well Jenkins, Moore I'm Sergeant James Larsen from Easy company" I introduce myself before continuing "Stick with me fellas, we need to work out where we are and how to get to our objective" I order, seeing as I am the higher rank. They both nod in response as I continue to walk the direction I was going before they joined.

* * *

My boots crunch on the undergrowth as I creep along the French countryside. Eyes and ears alert for other paratroopers or Germans. Moore and Jenkins left a while back, they didn't think I was going the right way, I am but they still didn't believe me, so I left them to it. I need to focus on getting to the objective; I have no time to argue with idiots. They have guns and ammo so it's not like they can't defend themselves against the Krauts. Hopefully they'll see sense soon and find their own way. I studied the sand tables extensively and know that the spur line next to me runs parallel to the river and that a bridge and road lay ahead. I am around 5 or 6 km distance away from the Sainte-Marie-du-Mont a few hours walk but at least now I know I'm heading in the right direction. Whispers and clanking boots from the railroad track above the embankment makes me freeze in place. Shit! Who could that be? Slowly and carefully I begin to clamber up the small steep hill stopping when I reach the top.

"Flash!" Unable to see through the thick greenery I call out the password in a harsh tone. A brief moment of silence causes my heart rate to increase slightly.

"Thunder" Thank Christ they're American. Scrambling through the thick bushes I manage to reach the other side. A loud clunk of my boots hitting the metal of the track draws the attention of the people. Fuck yes. I have found some of Easy.

"Sergeant Larsen" Winters greets me.

"Sir I'm glad to see you" I say in reply as I stride over to the group. I recognize most of the group, Winters, Lip, Malark, Popeye, Toye, and Bill but there are a couple of men I don't know, two from the 82nd and one from the 506th.

"Hey Jimmie good to see ya"

"Jimmie you made it!"

"Good to see ya buddy"

The group says simultaneously all smiling briefly at me, slapping me on the arm or shoulder then returning into position.

"Sir I don't have a weapon, my leg bag was lost I only have a knife and two grenades" I explain to Winters.

"Neither do I sergeant. Lipton hasn't got one either, we will find some soon" he address me and Lip before turning to the others "Let's keep moving"

With that order the group resumes what they were doing; I tag along next to Malark and Toye curious about the man taking point. Bill periodically gives the man glares.

"So whose they guy up front and why does Bill look like his ready to kill him?" I ask as we slowly inch forward. Malark grins as he turns to me.

"Oh that's Hall…" Before Malark can finish his sentence however the man who is apparently called Hall crouches down and signals us to halt. We instinctively crouch in silence, Winters moves forward and approaches some wooden rails. This must be the bridge and the road. He looks over the edge for a few seconds before he turns his body towards us.

"Lipton go, Guarnere" he orders in a hushed tone signal to Bill that he should hang back and act as look out over the bridge until we are at the bottom. Lip heads down the steep sloppy embankment on the opposite side of the railings Bill waiting back, the rest of us behind Lip a few seconds later.

Once down on the road I slide against the cobble stone bridge. Winters crouches next to me peering at the horizon. Lipton stands to my other side, whilst the others are on the opposite side of the track. The clopping of hooves and a raucous of noise breaks through the silent night, well early morning. I glanced at my wristwatch earlier; it's around 4 am now. Not long till the time were supposed to take causeway number 2.

"Wait for my command" Winters holds his hand in the air, instructing the guys with guns. I feel really useful right now, with two grenades and a small knife, fucking great.

The sounds of the wagons and krauts become louder as the road and bride become more illuminated. Large shadows cast through the stone arch. Before Winters can signal for the men to fire the sound of a Tommy gun rings out. The Germans are lit up, blood spurting out of the unsuspecting victims. Flashes of light and a spray of red, then the body's slump to the floor, they twitch and twitch. My eyes dart to the culprit, Bill is stood firing wildly, like a possessed man. I wouldn't be surprised if he shoots one of us if we try to stop him, Winters looks pissed. Some of the Germans attempt to fire back or run off but Bill and the others who are shooting now quickly stop them, trying to feel somewhat useful I grab a one of my two grenades.

"Grenade" I warn the others as I pull the metal pin out flinging the projectile at the carts. A few seconds later it explodes with a large burst of light, the majority of the krauts now dead and the horses all but one are killed. It lets out a horrible noise almost like a scream. Bill all the while is still shooting. Clearly the death of his brother has made him angry but I didn't think he would be this bad. I can see Winters in the corner of my eye grow impatient.

"That's enough Guarnere" He yells angrily. Bill glares back at the lieutenant before lowering his gun bitterly. I step away from the two making my way towards one of the bodies. Nearly every inch of his uniform is drenched in blood. Reaching down I peel a rifle from his rigidly curled fingers. The horse is still making a racket as it withers in pain.

"Everyone ok" Winters asks us, we have all drifted away from the mad man Bill.

"Yes sir" I reply amongst the chorus of the others. A loud shot rings out and the horse is silenced. I look up and see Toye holding his pistol in the air. He returns it to his holster. Winters and Bill end their stand off and we slowly move away from the carnage. Winters is now holding a kraut gun like mine. I don't like the fact that I'm using this piece of shit but I suppose it's better than nothing. I slip quickly past Malark and Hall making my way near the front of the group. I can vaguely hear them having a conversation about Bill as I stand next to Lip. The only part of the conversation I can fully make out is Bills livid yell.

"None of your fucking business cowboy"

Lipton glances at me nodding his head towards the direction we are going, I take that to mean that we are moving again.

"All right let's move out" Winters says from behind us.

"Sir" I answer with the others.

"Quietly" Lip emphasizes the word as we all start to head off again.

* * *

The sun is slowly rising above us, painting the sky yellow and red, and red like the blood of the krauts we killed earlier. Our first kill, my first kill in this war. No doubt I'll kill many more. I always assumed I'd feel guilty about my first but I don't, I strangely don't feel anything at all. No remorse, sadness anything. They would have easily killed us if we didn't.

"Hey Larsen isn't it?" Hall turns towards me. Me, him, Lip, the two guys from 82nd and Winters are in a line at the front of the group as we traipse through the boggy wet ground of the river. Reeds hitting our torsos every so often. Bill, Toye, Malark and Wynn and following in a line behind us a small distance away. They are having a very animated conversation, no doubt about Winters.

"Call me Jimmie so you from Texas seeing as Bill called you cowboy, my girls from their originally" I may as well converse with him, we have some more km of walking to go and it's becoming burning.

"No I'm not" He say bitterly.

"Jeez sorry just assume"

"Well don't" with that short exchange he turns back towards the leader of the group. So much for conversing then.

* * *

The sun fully raised and a warm summer breeze now blows. I haven't stuck up conversation with anyone since Hall was pissy with me. We've been walking for hours and are getting closer to Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Tall trees line the muddy track marked pathways. The smell of burning fills my nostril as we round a corner. The source of the smell soon becomes apparent. A burnt out severely damaged farmhouse and barn stands out amongst the green. Another sight that stands out is the array of corpses. A paratrooper dangles limp from a tree like a marionette his chute caught up. Blood still drips down his grey features. Dead krauts also lie on the ground along with dead cows. Winters gives us the signal to stop.

"Lipton, Wynn!" He instructs them using hands signals. He wants them to scout around the buildings edge. Popeye and Lip step forward guns at the ready. Moments later they signal the all clear. I stand up straight and head towards a fallen American. Eager to get rid of this Kraut weapon.

"Anybody needs supplies or ammo now's the time to get it" Lip echoes my thoughts as I tug at an M1 stuck in some kids hand. I swiftly reach into his bag and pull out more ammo and k-rations, supplies and take two of his grenades. I straighten up and see the others scavenging for stuff. Malark is stood next to a kraut.

"Hey I promised my kid brother I'd bring him a Luger. So I get first dibs ok" He calls out as he flips the body over reaching into its pocket. Shit Danny wants a Luger. I look around the bodies in an attempt to locate another kraut I spot one and head towards it. "Check that one ok Malark" instructs one of the fellas. Just as I place my hand on his gun a loud rumbling noise overhead makes me fall to the ground breaching myself for attack. Another loud aircraft flies over before I realize what it is.

Lip who was nearby stands up and places his helmet on his head. "That's the Navy!" He states the obvious.

"The landings have started lets go" Winters orders.

"Move out"

As I start to walk away I see Hall check his watch. "Right on time" I vaguely hear him say, as Bill has some dry comment to say back. I'm too busy focused on reloading the 'borrowed' rifle I have.

"Let's move out" Winters repeats himself, he is clearly growing annoyed with Bills bullshit and the fact that we were all dropped in the wrong location and are running late. The last thing he needs is a fight between two of his men.

* * *

After more walking we are finally near Le Grand Chemin which is very close to Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Luckily for Winters and the sanity of the group Bill and Hall, and Bill and everyone for that matter have had no run ins. Bill took point a while back. I've been walking with Winters and Lip. The trees line the road here like every road I've seen during the hours I've been in Normandy. This place looks like England but with French buildings and sunshine. As we round a corner a group of kraut soldiers comes into view. They are sat on the grass a paratrooper standing guard.

"Morning sir battalion sure will be happy to see you guys" he says in greeting. He holds his gun at the prisoners as he faces us.

"Where?" is all Winters says, hooking up with HQ being his main priority. By the tone of the trooper's voice and the inclination I can only assume that the situation is dire. If everyone's jump was like mine then I won't be surprised if only a handful of men have managed to find the meeting point.

"At the farm sir"

I follow Winters and Lip towards the direction of civilization.

"Top of the mornin' to ya fellas enjoying the war?" I hear Malark joke in an Irish accent. He must be terrorizing the krauts. I have no time to hang back and fuck with them, I want to make sure that the men of Easy or at least some of Easy have made it safely.

Winters runs off when we reach the makeshift HQ. Frantically I survey the faces of the men who are stood, sat and lying down scattered about the place.

"Popeye! Jimmie!" Someone booms repeatedly, Popeye who is stood next to me glances at me and then heads towards the shouts until they get louder.

"Whoa Easy company!" I recognize that voice anywhere. The skinny Jewish son of a bitch Liebgott. He made it then. Turning round I see Joe and a couple of other Easy fellas.

"Fuck it's good to see you Joe" I say as I shake his hand a grin on my face for the first time today. His oil covered face replicates my smile. He hands me a cigarette and light before lighting up his own. I take a drag and relish it. A chorus of 'good to see ya' and other sentences of the same sentiment can be heard from the men, each of us shaking hands.

"Glad ya made it Jimmie" He says before turning to shake hands with Bill, Toye, Lip and Popeye. I turn to Petty and Ranney to shake their hands.

After Toye releases his hand from Lieb's he turns to introduce Bills arch nemesis.

"And this here's Hall from Able company"

"You from Texas?" Lieb asks as he takes a drag. A small smirk makes its way onto my face and I take a drag. I can't wait to see Hall chew him out.

"Manhattan" He says bitterly. Lieb looks surprised and shoots me a questioning glance. I shrug in response before enjoying my smoke once more. A loud bang of enemy fire makes us all jump. After a few seconds of stunned silence we continue what we were doing, enemy fire continues from then on.

* * *

Standing in a ruined barn with only thirteen men of Easy company accounted for was not what I expected to happen today. Easy consists of me, Liebgott, Toye, Ranney, Bill, Malarkey, Lipton, Winters, Compton, Petty, Plesha, Popeye and Hendrix. Meehan is unaccounted for and Winters is the next in command, he's been appointed our leader for now. We were called into the barn shortly after reuniting with Lieb. Other than Winters Buck is the only Easy officer around. We've been called for a mission and Compton seems nervous about the lack of numbers. I stand amongst the group of men gathered around Winters who has a blank sheet of paper and pencil in hand. Many injured and none injured men mill around us but my attention focuses solely on Winters.

"Does the Major know we only have 13 Easy Company men?" He asks Winters in a whispered voice so that others outside our circle can't hear. I lean against my helmet which is resting on a bale of hay.

"No" With that Winters turns his attention away from Buck to the sheet of paper lying on top of a map in front of him. He puts his pencil onto the blank sheet, drawing an L shape. "The 88s we've been hearing have been spotted in the field down the road a ways Major Strayer wants us to take them out" he pauses to check that we are paying attention before he continues with the brief talking fast. "There are two guns…" He draws an X on the diagram whilst talking "…that we know of firing on Utah Beach" He draws a second cross just below the first one. "We plan on a third and a fourth here and here" he says as he draws two more points on the lower line. "The Germans are in the trenches with access to the entire with access to the entire Battery. Machine gun covering the rear" He draws arrows along the lines signifying the trenches. "We'll establish a base of fire and move hard and fast with two squads of three" He finishes his explanation. Bill looks at Winters before opening his mouth.

"How many Krauts you think we're facing?" A valid question.

"No idea" Winters tells Bill. Bill looks pissed.

"No idea" he echoes in a bitter sarcastic tone. Winters doesn't seem phased by Bills attitude and turns back to us, locking eyes with Lip.

"We'll take some TNT along with us. Despite the guns" He nods a Lipton seeing as he has TNT.

"Yes sir" He mirrors his action. Winters then glances at Liebgott.

"Liebgott, you'll take the first machine gun with Petty A gunner" Lieb nods.

"Plesha, Hendrix you take the other" he instructs.

"Who does that leave?" He asks after delegating the machine gun jobs. I raise my hand with the others. He surveys us before announcing everyone else's jobs.

"Compton, Malarkey, Toye, Guarnere ok, we'll be making the main assault understood. Ranney, Wynn and Larsen will provide covering fire" I nod before reply with the standard reply to an order.

"Yes Sir"

"All right lets pack it up boys"

* * *

Gathering up the few supplies I have I stuff them into my musette bag. The others doing the same. Preparing for the assault.

Winters approaches Lipton whose stood next to me.

"Lipton when you see me capture the first gun, I want you and your TNT as fast as possible"

I grab some ammo which Lieb had let me have.

"Yes Sir" Once Lip answers, Winters shouts orders at us.

"Ok weapons and ammo drop everything else got any spare ammo in a pack or a musette bag bring it along" he yells as everyone rushes to gather everything needed. I move towards Ranney as Sinks jeep driver approaches Winters.

"Hey Ranney, you got any spare ammo I can have? I had to scrounge some of Lieb" he ask him as he looks up from his gun. He doesn't reply but hands over without looking up.

"Thanks"

"Compton second squad" Winters voice booms out. I turn to see him gun in hand ready to go. I hoist my own gun into position after putting the ammo I just received away.

"Yes sir" Compton replies as he loads his gun. I begin to follow after Winters mentally preparing myself for the upcoming assault.

"All right you heard the word let's move! Let's move!" Lip jigs the stragglers along as we being the short trek to Brécourt Manor.


	10. Chapter Ten: Fields of Destruction

**Two things firstly a huge thank you to **MASHlover23, war sage**&amp; **Byron W.4,**cheers for the reviews guys they always make me smile they're****greatly appreciated ****I'm glad you like reading this story ;-)**

**Secondly I would like to apologise in advanced for this chapter, I seem to have lost my mojo, I don't know something seems off about it, I've re written it a few times and this is the best version. I promise the next chapter will be better please don't go too harsh on me if you don't like it I'm really trying to improve but sometimes I'm my own worst enemy and criticise myself too much and delete everything. I'm sorry for such a ramble; I'll let you get on with the reading. **

**Happy reading, thanks for stopping by on my page and as always enjoy…or don't whichever :D**

**P.s I am debating on whether to watch The Pacific but don't its worthwhile, should I bother or not?**

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Fields of Destruction**

Mid-morning D-Day June 6th 1944 Brécourt Manor Le Grand Chemin France

My heart pounds as I run flanking behind Winters and Lipton towards the fields of Brécourt Manor. Passing a ploughed and cultivated patch of farm land Compton, Lieb, Malark, Bill and some of the others are running on the opposite side to me a few meters away. The rhythmic sounds of artillery fire grow louder with each step we take. A burnt out truck and a pile of trash sits in an overgrown section of grass at the edge of the bush lined field from which the Germans are firing. Lip reaches the rusty shell of a vehicle first. I kneel down on my right knee as Winters moves forward, the long grass bending down and snapping with my weight. The lieutenant climbs into the truck and glances through the glassless windshield. He looks around before running off to the left towards where the others are waiting, I can't see where he is clearly however because of all the thick undergrowth. Turning back towards the truck I notice Lip signalling me and the other fellas forward. As I reach him I get a glimpse through the truck, some of the krauts are loading one of the guns that are covered with netting. Ranney stops and stands behind me, Sinks jeep driver, I think his name is Lorraine is next to him. I hear the crunching of feet on the foliage and look up to see Winters making his way towards us, Lip steps forward to meet him halfway, Ranney spits loudly onto the ground impatiently and eager to go.

"Take Ranney and Larsen envelop right, give covering fire" Winters says loud enough for me Lip and Ranney to hear. He then turns towards Lorraine who is standing a short way from us "Lorraine on the machine gun" he raises his voice slightly so the private can hear. Lorraine scurry's off into his position. "Don't give away your position until we have to, I want that TNT as soon as we've captured the first gun go" He commands as he runs off.

"Yes sir" Lip calls back as the three of us begin to run towards the right hand side of the field; I clutch my M-1 tight to my chest, ready to shoot any krauts. As we approach the area we are meant go to a problem becomes apparent, the fucking bushes are too dense to see through. There's no way we can see throw them. I can't see anything at all I can only hear the explosions and Germans yelling.

"I can't see nothing" Ranney exclaims, as if he is reading my thoughts. Lip sighs and looks up at the small tree we have stopped next to. He hoists himself up and precariously balances himself, carbine in hand. He is exposed, what the fuck is he thinking? Me and Ranney share a look of disbelief. Lip starts firing. By the sounds coming from the field Winters and the others have begun the assault, various explosions of grenades as well as gunfire ring out. Small bits of branches and leaves rain down onto Lip and us as he continues to shoot at the krauts me and Ranney can't see. The lucky bastard only gets shot at by a few soldiers, I can only assume they are currently occupied by the rest of Easy if they weren't Lip would be dead by now. I am pissed that I am just stood here attempting to help, stupid fucking greenery.

"Fuck these bushes are annoying" I say frustrated at Ranney as I attempt to find a way through the bush, I spot a small gap and attempt to fit my rifle through or at least pull some branches out. Fuck these bushes are thick. Nothing will budge. Ranney nods in agreement as the gunfire and yelling in German and English continue. I hate being useless. I fire through the small gap, trying to aim with little visual help. I shoot a few rounds before peeking through the hole. A couple of dead Germans greet my eyes, I doubt any of my bullets had killed them but I like to feel useful.

After what feels like hours Lip stops firing. "Larsen, Ranney!" He calls to us as he begins to clamber down. "Let's move they got the first gun!" He exclaims as he begins to run towards the burnt out truck were we started; I quickly follow him with Ranney on my tail. As we get nearer the sound of heavy breathing gets louder, someone takes a deep breath through their mouth causing a hissing noise. The three of us share a glance before crouching down and slowly creeping forward, cautiously in case a German was waiting for us. It's not a German though, the figure of Popeye scowling in pain leant against the rusty metal comes into view.

"What the fuck happened to you Pop?" I ask as I make my way towards him.

"I goofed off, I'm sorry I got hit" he apologies to me. Jesus the man has been shot and he's apologizing.

"It's ok Pop, where you hit?" I ask him as he lies down on his stomach his arms propping his upper body up. Lip kneels next to me and begins to pull out first aid gear from his pockets and bag. Ranney stands a little away from us keeping look out.

"My ass" He bites out between ragged breathes. Did he just say ass? I pause for a second before looking down at his butt; a pool of red has begun to gather around a frayed hole in his pants. Yep he is shot in his ass and it is bleeding a lot. Reluctantly I place my hand over the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding; Popeye lets out a small grunt as I do so.

"Sorry Popeye" I weakly apologise, feeling awkward with my hand on his ass. A slap on my arm from Lipton knocks me to me senses; he nudges me to the left as he tears open a sulfa pack. I take my stained hand off. I wipe them on the ground before going to stand with Ranney, Ranney glances at me before looking back towards the field where the gunfire is still raging on. As much as I'd like to help Popeye more we need to go and help Winters and the others quickly with the TNT otherwise we might have more injured or even killed. I watch Lip as he tends to Pops unfortunate wound.

"You'll be alright Popeye" Lip says as he sprinkles the powder.

"I'm sorry I messed up…" Pop is about to say more but Lip cuts him off.

"Don't be sorry" Lip begins to tie a bandage awkwardly into place.

"Sarge" Lip looks Popeye in the eye.

"Yeah?" Lip says distractedly. Ranney glances at Pop's ass and grimaces; he's probably imagining what it would be like. I don't ever want to get shot but if I did I know for sure two places I wouldn't want to take a bullet, my ass or my balls. Shit that would be awful.

"You think this is a ticket home?" Popeye inquires nervously.

"Maybe" I hope not, like Cobb who was hit this morning it would suck to be knocked out of the war on day one after so long preparing for this. Lip who has now finished bandaging him up hits me and Ranney on the arm as he crawls back to Popeye.

"Shit I just got here" he exclaims as Lip slaps Popeye in a reassuring way on his back before walking off towards the action Ranney in tow.

"You'll be back fighting in no time Pop" I say as I slap him on his arm, he smiles at me before I quickly follow the other two.

* * *

Crawling on our stomachs like snakes in the long wildflower filled grass we stay low to avoid the sporadic fire above our heads. Ranney crawls slightly in front of me with Lip just behind me. I hear the sound of another person crawling behind me, I attempt to raise my head to investigate but a hail of bullets fly within inches of my face, I quickly slam my head down regretting my rookie mistake. The German trench system is within meters of us now but its slow progress with the constant barrage of bullets flying overhead. Shit do they ever stop firing or run out of ammo.

"Hey Sarge I'm looking for Battalion Headquarters?" the unknown figure asks Lip. What the fuck is he doing here looking for HQ? Does he realise were in the middle of a fire fight?

"Are you kidding?" disbelief clear in Lips tone, this kid is insane stepping into a fight to ask for directions. "It's back thataway!" I continue to slowly crawl forward, I assume Lip gestures to HQ seeing as he hasn't given verbal instructions. Another bout of gunfire begins

"You mean over…" the characteristic sound of bullet penetrating skin and blood squirting cuts the kid off. The sounds of the battle rage on but the kid never talks again. After a few moments of silence Lips voice rings out above the racket.

"Shit Jimmie, I don't have the TNT" Lip yells angrily behind me. Ranney stops in front of me and attempts to look back at us.

"Ranney you go ahead and meet up with the others I'll go back and get the TNT with Lip ok?" I order Ranney and he nods without looking back at me. I spin around and freeze for a moment. The sound before was a bullet hitting skin, it had struck the fella who'd asked Lip the question. His body was slumped faced first on the ground, his one visible eye glued open and glazed over, blood trickles down the gaping hole in his forehead, and his frozen features make me feel uneasy. Fuck he looks like Danny. I turn his body over to check. It's clearly not Danny. What the fuck is wrong with me. What did I think Danny was here? He's back in the states training. I need to snap out of this and help Lip retrieve his TNT and help the other fellas. Shaking the uneasy feeling away I follow Lip back to Popeye.

"Do ya think you left it where Popeye is?" I ask as we reach the gap in the hedge row which we enter the field trough.

"Hopefully" Lip replies as he dodges enemy bullets. Out of the line of fire we run the short distance back to Pop. Quickly scanning the area around Popeye I spot a musette bag.

"Is that it?" I point at the offending item. Lip looks at it then runs over and picks it up opening the flap.

"Yeah let's go we're behind"

* * *

Sliding down the steep wicker bank of one of the German trenches I lift my rifle up and aim at the kraut who is aiming at me, I squeeze my finger onto the trigger and send a round into his body; the bullet hits the mark and kills him instantly. I train my sights onto the man next to him, aim, squeeze the trigger, fire, he's dead. Lipton has gone off to help Winters blow up the 105s. Ranney next to me does the same identical mechanical movements, the rest of the fellas in the trench are also doing them, killing as many Germans as we can. I can almost feel the adrenalin course through my veins as a wave of energy rushes through me. I channel this energy into my gun. I'm surprised that we are all still awake none of us have slept properly in days, yeah I slept on the plane but it didn't relay replenish my energy levels and we've been running and fighting on little food but I think the importance of doing our job is keeping us up. My mind is free of anything despite the chaos of the guns and shouting. I am so engrossed in shooting that I don't even notice the lieutenant from Dog Company, Spires I think he's called, come with extra ammo and reinforcements. I notice him and some of D company fellas, as well as Bill charge towards the last gun leaving the relative safety of the trench. Spires and Bill are insane bastards on their own but now that they are together they seem even crazier, they like two peas in a pod, well two psychotic peas in a pod. I see a couple of fellows get hit but Spires is successful in blowing the last gun up. The machine gun fire from the Krauts increases with the explosion. I turn my attention back to the enemy, shooting a kraut in the head I see Winters in the corner of my left eye.

"Move out! Move it out!" He yells as he gestures to the fields behind him. "Back to battalion go! Go!" he slaps me on my arm bringing my senses back. I fire at one of the Germans killing them before I scramble up out of the trench. I quickly run towards a gap in the thick bush, my feet struggling not to slip on the sloshy muddy ground. Another kraut seems to appear from nowhere a few feet in front of me he rushes to shoot me but my reactions are quicker. He slumps to the ground. Turning away from the body I sprint back towards HQ leaving the field in which our baptism of fire just occurred behind me.

* * *

2320 D-Day June 6th 1944 Culoville Normandy France

My fingers are shaking as I take a long drag from my cigarette before stumping it out on the wall behind me. The adrenaline long worn off and this is the after effect. Sitting down on the cobbled stone floor of some random building I begin to reflect on today's events. I have landed in Normandy France, lost all my equipment, dropped away from anyone, found Winters and the others, killed some krauts on the way to the meeting point and found a gun, killed more krauts at Brécourt and successfully destroyed the 105s, retreated after heavy machine gun fire, returned with tanks courtesy of Nixon and finished the krauts off, had about an hour to recoup before marching to here, Culoville. The majority of Easy still unaccounted for. Welsh turned up around lunch time with a few other fellas, he helped clear the fields outside the manor, despite his arrival we are still missing at least 80% of our men and our leader is still MIA including the whole of the HQ plane he was on. Winters is now our temporary leader but could potentially become our permanent leader. I was shocked when he told me when I saw him earlier as I escaped the stink of the truck. Winters proved himself today though, I've always thought he was a good leader but today he demonstrated that he was a natural leader he successfully planned the assault with few casualties. . Only a couple men have been killed at Brécourt, Popeye has been shot and most likely on his way to England by now. Death is something that happens in wars, I know and I have seen death before, on the battlefield you can't dwell on each death you have to move on and get the job done or else you'll be next, you can think and grieve later. I am pissed that I let the death of that Warrant officer get to me so much. Yes he looked a bit like Danny but I should have stayed focused. I can't freeze every time someone who looks remotely like a family member gets killed.

"Jesus you're fucking lucky you got out of that truck earlier" Lieb's cuts off my thoughts. I haven't even noticed the skinny fucker now sat next to me.

"Malarkey's ass still stinkin the place out?" I ask my face contorting into a small smile

"Yeah that's why I'm here I don't want to die in that damn truck" He says bitterly, I let out a small laugh at Joe's disgusted expression. "You know that crazy son of a bitch nearly got killed out there today all for a fuckin Luger." Lieb adds laughing as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a smoke, he lights it up and takes a drag. He face illuminated by the moonlight.

"Can I have a smoke?" I ask, he looks at me a second before taking the carton back out of his pocket and offering the open box to me, I take one of the sticks and lighter and start to smoke. "Thanks, I heard Bill mention something about lugers and stupid micks earlier but I haven't heard the story, I did hear about Toye and the grenades though" I shift slightly and stretch my legs out in front of me, stone floors aren't the most comfortable seating areas. Lieb nods as he leans his head against the wall.

"When you were sorting Popeye's ass out the stupid mick spotted a dead kraut, he thought he'd have a Luger on him." Lieb starts as he exhales a plume of smoke "He ran out into the middle of the field. The krauts stopped firing, the fucking idiots must of thought he was a medic or something, that didn't last long though, they started shootin when they realised he was one of us." My eyes widen slightly, was Malark really that desperate for a fucking gun? "He was jumping left and right trying to avoid the machine gun bullets landing at his feet, he didn't get a scratch on him though the lucky bastard."

"Jesus Christ all that and he didn't get a Luger" I chuckle, I really don't know why Malark wants so many Germans guns, I'll have to ask him some time. "Is he still making his vile looking stew?"

"Yeah he nearly finished it when I left, why you wanna try it?" Lieb asks slightly confused.

"No I want to avoid the area until they have well and truly finished, if Malark's farts are bad now imagine what their like after eating that shit" my smile erupts into a grin as I glance to see Lieb's face grinning too. We lapse into a comfortable silence, the only sounds being the distant conversations and boots of various soldiers and the periodic puffs on our cigarettes.

"You got any souvenirs?" Joe breaks the silence with a random question. Shit I had completely forgot about my prize. Reaching down into my pocket I pull out the knife. I hand it over to Lieb who grabs it and starts examining it.

"Nice, where'd you get that?" He inquires as he hands it back to me.

"Got it from some kraut when we went back and cleared Brécourt" I explain as Joe nods then rummaged around his bag that's slung over his left shoulder. I look down at the knife in my hand getting a good look at it for the first time. The handle has fancy metal work on it, swirls and such. A Nazi symbol engraved just before the blade, the leather case also has the same intricate designs.

"Get a load of this got this beauty after the jump" Joe says proudly as he pulls out a large German Nazi flag and hands it over to me. "Do ya like it?"

"Yeah" I admire the flag a few seconds longer, my eyes lingering on the black emblem in the middle. I hand it back as I let out a sigh. These souvenirs are all well and good but I'd rather have the rest of Easy here instead, not knowing where they are is killing me and the strange moment with the dead paratrooper has been bugging me all day.

"What's eatin you?"

"Nothing" I stubbornly say.

"Knock it off Jimmie I've known you two years now and I know when you sigh like that it means somethings bugging ya" damn him for knowing me so well sighing once more before slamming my head against the wall violently.

"Some kid today got killed when me and Lip were going to find the demolition kit, for a split second I thought he looked like Danny, he didn't even look like him really but I was convinced it was him" I say exasperated "I fucking froze, how can I be a good sergeant if I fucking freeze and crack up" I put my head in my hands. A slap to my arm makes me look towards the man sat next to me. I lock eyes with Lieb as he gives me a reassuring look.

"It's ok you're tired, lack of sleep can do crazy shit to you, you're a good leader Jimmie. The stress of the jump and the lack of sleep messed with your head. You didn't fuck up, you did your job and carried on, you're not cracking up either you lost it years ago but that's fine I think we all did when we signed up to leap out of planes." He lets out a laugh at his own joke before looking out towards the road in front of us breaking the eye contact before the situation has a chance to get awkward. It seems weird having such a personal talk with the usually loud mouth Jew. Normally I'd share moments like this with Tip or Lip, very rarely does Lieb show this side of him but I am thankful when he does, he knows what to say and when. Thinking of Tip I hope he is ok, where ever he is, hopefully he'll arrive here within the next few days.

"Yeah you're right on that, what the fuck was we thinking when we volunteered for this shit" I let out a small chuckle before the comfortable silence of earlier returns, both of us content in our own thoughts.

"Come on I think Malark has probably finished poisoning the fellas by now, let's get some rest, lord knows what we have to do tomorrow" Lieb's voice cuts through the silence.

"I could do with a decent night's sleep, I only slept a few hours on the plane over the airsickness pills knocked me out" I chime as we begin the walk back to the group.

"Jesus they made you loopy too?! I thought it was just me, they were fucking awful!"


	11. Chapter Eleven: Flies spread disease

war sage **thank you for the review greatly appreciated as always :-D **

**I really struggled writing this as you can probably tell when you read it, I may in the future when I have finished this story, go back and rewrite and edit the chapters better. **

**Anyway happy reading, thanks for stopping by on my page and as always enjoy…or don't whatever :D**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: "Flies spread disease so keep yours closed"**

D-Day + 2 1944 near the town of Carentan France

The cold hard cobble floor digs into my back I can feel the warm rays of sunshine illuminating my body. If that god awful stench of bodies and the sounds of gunfire die down then today could be described as pleasant. This little village we have been staying at could be a decent place for a vacation, when a fucking war isn't on. I attempt to block the smell and noise of guns and soldiers, I haven't slept well for days and a nap in this pleasant summer sun would be good. Keeping my eyes shut I can feel my body begin to close down however suddenly the pleasant warmth disappears and the light beyond my closed eyelids becomes dimmer.

"Hey Sarge I don't think the sidewalk is the best place to hit the hay" Hoob's voice exclaims from above me. Great so much for a fucking nap Hoob will never leave until I answer him. I sigh as my eyes pop open to see Hoob looking down at me a huge grin on his boyish face.

"Gee thanks for the advice Hoob" I say as I haul myself off the ground into a standing position. I quickly look around and see that we are alone. I purposely picked this street because of the fact no other guys were around, which in such a small village is a fucking miracle. "What's up Hoob?" I ask seeing as he must need something if he has bothered to go out of his way to find me when I specifically said only to find me if it was important. He looks at me for second as if he has forgotten what he came for.

"Some more fellas have been arriving in the last half hour, think some of them might be Easy guys, wondered if you wanted to see" he says as he scratches his head through the mop of brown hair.

"Thanks for letting me know Hoob" I flash him a small smile as I begin to walk towards the village centre and the war memorial where most of the guys gather. Though I said not to bother me only if it was an emergency I'm glad Hoob has come to get me, I'd like to see how many of our guys have made it. Since D-day small numbers of the men have been arriving periodically which is good however Meehan and his plane are still MIA, each arrival stating that they haven't seen Meehan or any of the others for that matter. Each group that arrives have different stories of their jumps and how they finally hooked up with the Company. It's been interesting hearing them and they've been interested in hearing about how we conducted the assault and how Popeye got pinked in the ass. I was relieved when Tip showed up, I managed to speak to him about the Danny incident, he agreed with Lieb, I wasn't crazy and I should just forget about it.

As I reach most of the fellas from Easy I see that they are all sitting or standing in their little groups. Since Toccoa each guys has friends and then has a circle of close friends. Normally they sit around in groups of four or five. Perco, Dukeman and a couple of other guys are sat leaning against the war memorial drinking bottles of cognac, wine and liquors they've found in burnt out buildings. Some of the booze they've acquired is strong; it's surprising that they can still hold their gun after drinking practically the whole bottle to themselves like some of them have. The officers drink too though, well Welsh does anyway; he has some in a flask.

Luz, Lieb and a few others were stood near the main road leading into the village. Hoob walks towards some of his friends as I stride towards Luz. Lieb who is showing off his flag to one of the fellas from 3rd platoon, he gives me nod before turning back to the awestruck private. Luz notices me approaching and his face erupts into his signature grin.

"Hey Jimmie you look like shit, thought you were getting some sack time?" He slaps his arm around my shoulder.

"Yeah I tried but Hoob woke me up" I reply as he nods still smiling "and fuck off I don't look like shit" he burst out in to laughter, tightens his grip on my arm. To be honest I probably do look like shit. The grease we used to paint our faces hasn't fully washed off, we haven't had the luxury of a shower and probably won't for a while, this combined with lack of sleep I probably do look like death.

"Oh Jimmie I love you so much. And I hate this war so much." Luz say's dramatically to me his face serious whilst he says it but he quickly loses his composure and laughs once more. It's always more comical when Luz impersonates dames. George removes his arm from my shoulders. Just as he does this a large group of soldiers come walking towards us. My eyes quickly sweep the area, hoping to find more Easy men. Four familiar faces are among the newcomers.

"Hey fellas" Tabs voice bellows as he approaches us, a huge grin on his face, boy it's good to see him. Luz next to me broadens his grin at the sight. Blithe is following Tab quietly, I lock eyes with him and give a small nod, and he reciprocates the action. Blithe is a good trooper, quiet but good. Shifty and Skinny also approach the group and head towards their pals.

"Well look who decided to show up Floyd" Luz happily jokes as he extends his hand out.

"Hey Luz" he accepts the outstretched hand and smiles back. Lord knows what he's been up too whilst trying to regroup with us. Luz slings his arm around Tab the same way he did with me as Lieb turns round from showing off his stuff and grins at the sight of his buddy,

"Good to see you Tab" I voice earnestly; a small group of men have gathered and turned their attention to the small reunion. His relieved and happy expression remains on his face as he looks between us.

"We thought we'd never find you" he announces. Blithe moves from behind Tab and starts off towards the memorial, I glance to see where he goes. He sits down next to Perco and Dukeman, figures they are from our platoon. I turn my vision back to the scene directly in front of me.

"You ok?" Luz questions at the same time that Lieb decides to speak.

"Get a load of this huh, you like it?" He thrusts the now extremely dirty Kraut flag, into his line of sight.

"Yeah it's the real stuff man" Tab agrees as he begins to rifle through his pack, Lieb looks smug at the appreciation of his souvenir.

"Of course" Lieb says proudly as he continues to stare at his flag. Tab continues to search for something in his bag before he stops. He must have found what he was looking for.

"You like this?" He whips a Kraut poncho out and his face turning smug like Lieb's before. Lieb looks at the poncho in admiration. It is good.

"Oh nice that's a beauty Sarge" Luz chimes in equally as impressed as the others. "It's a hell of a poncho"

"It is a hell of a poncho Tab" I say just as Lieb and a couple of the others say some kind of compliments at the same time making it hard to distinguish who said what. Tab walks off towards the other guys from his platoon holding his poncho closely and rightly so.

"My Luger's gonna put you all to shame when I get it" Hoob mutters as Tab disappears.

Lieb folds his flag back up and stuffs it away. Various items are being collected by the guys; Perco who turned up the other day has a number of working watches looted from dead bodies. Guns are popular too.

"Show Luz your Knife" Lieb's voice interrupts my thoughts. Oh yeah I haven't shown him yet. Luz only just arrived here last night and I haven't really had a chance to show him it. Opening my bag and fishing around for it I produced the extravagant weapon. Luz takes it and examines it his face breaking out into a grin once more.

"It's a beauty, you gonna use it?" He asks as he turns it over a few times before reluctantly handing it back to me.

"Probably but I don't know if I want to ruin it with blood and I think…"

"Easy Company on the road!" I was about to finish my sentence when a random voice from further in the village shouts.

"Let's go 1st Platoon!" Welsh yells drawing everyone's attention to him. We must be moving out or going on a mission.

"1st Platoon let's go!"

"Platoon move out!"

"1st Platoon let's go! Up on your feet platoon" I add to the number of fellas yelling to the scattered group, slowly the men stop what they were doing and drag themselves towards the voice of 1st Platoons leader.

"Easy's moving on your feet" Me, Luz and Hoob make our way to Welsh, the other fellas following behind us slowly. When we reach him he waits until we are all there.

"Listen up! It'll be dark soon. Light and noise discipline from here on, no talking, no smoking and no playing grab fanny with the man in front of you Luz" Welsh adds the last bit with a small smile. Luz has had an obsession with grabbing ass whenever we marched, jumped or minding our own business since about three weeks into training. We are all use to having our ass grabbed by him and a number of other guys.

"We're taking Carentan, it's the only place where armor from Omaha and Utah Beach can link up and head inland" he explains as he slings his musette bag over his right shoulder. I shift the strap of my pack slightly as I continue to listen to the plan of action. "Until we take Carentan, they're stuck on the sand, General Taylor's sending the whole division" he finishes, a few of the fellas let out scoffs and sighs. Luz being the loudest scoff.

"Remember, boys, give me three days and three nights of hard fighting" Luz pauses his brilliant impression of the General, giving emphasis on the word fighting after a brief pause he continues on "and you will be relieved" I attempt to hid my smile but fail. A chorus of "Yeah Luz" and "Yeah's" are the group's response. Welsh also looks amused but hides it better than I can. Hoob who is stood a few guys away from me looks towards the platoon leader, raising his hand in the air.

"Lieutenant, I'll take point" he exclaims doubtlessly as he steps towards the front of the group and the road out of the village.

"Corporal Hoobler will be lead scout" Welsh orders as he bends down and retrieves his gun off the ground. He looks up and scans the crowed before stopping. "Blithe, glad you could join us"

"Thank you sir"

"1st Platoon fall in behind Fox company" With that I begin to creep slowly towards the road as Welsh continues to order the others "you people from 2nd and 3rd Platoon follow us. Shake a leg" He picks up his helmet and puts it on his head.

I walk slowly with Luz stood next to me.

"Another thing to remember boys: flies spread disease so keep yours closed" Luz jokes loudly despite the order not to talk.

"Keep it down Luz" Welsh orders as we pass him by on our way out of the small village Trying to keep this man quiet was near impossible I swear. I can't help but smile at his antics though he is the comic relief we need in this shit hole of a war.

* * *

With the dick Sobel leading us for a long time we had grown accustomed to marching in the dark. His notion of learning to see in the dark back in training amused me and angered me at the time but now I can fully appreciate what he did. Strangely I prefer to work at night and I'm sure a couple of the others would disagree with that. It requires the use of all your senses, a lot of skill and observations. These skills are apparently lacking in those from Fox Company, we've already lost them several times. It's fucking frustrating. Letting out a frustrated sigh I trudge on through the wet boggy marsh. Bright red flames dance across the horizon. The air thick with smoke from the burning trucks. Fly's and mosquitos buzz around our faces and the stench of dead bodies is overwhelming. Nearly everywhere you look a dead Kraut or animal is lying around. The sloshy mud splashes with each step, the mud so thick that your boots get stuck and you have to pull them to free them. I quickly glance at the few fellas ahead of me to check that we are still moving, we are but lord knows how long for. We are so strung out of formation that I fear if any of the Germans they expect are coming to attack us will defeat us because we are practically defenseless.

A silhouette of a body holding its right arm out lies in the path. As we get closer Perco who is a few men in front of me bends down and takes his watch then steps over. Blithe passes him then Skinny who is in front of me steps onto of it. The bloated corpse makes the awful squishing noise letting out the nasty stink. Skinny grabs the outstretched hand and shakes it.

"Sorry buddy" he whispers as he walks off following Blithe. I step over the now deflated Kraut and continue walking. After barely walking a few more steps the fellas in front stop. Fuck F Company can't be lost again can they?

* * *

Around 0600 D-Day + 6 1944 Carentan France

Glancing at my watch as I crouch down on the ditch and impossibly thick impenetrable bush lined road leading to the T intersection of Carentan I read the time, 0557. We have 2 minutes until we attack. All the stop start slow progress of the last three days has been leading to this, the attack of Carentan. Winters explained the plan a when we arrived into positon at 0530. Welsh will lead us down the middle, with 2nd platoon and 3rd platoon following behind. Not much information on the Krauts in the town is known, not much recognisance has been done, and all I know is that they have a clear advantage on us. They have high ground, there is no doubt about it, thy are in the buildings and we have to fight them from down below. Giving my watch another glance, I grow impatient. 0559. Not long now. Winters who is crouched next to Welsh five men in front of me stares at his timepiece. He says something to Welsh. It's time.

"Let's, 1st Platoon let's go" Welsh orders in a whisper as he starts to swiftly make his way into the town. Luz who is directly behind him shadows our platoon leader his bulky radio strapped to his back. I quickly follow the fella in front of me. A large building with Café de Normandy written in large letter gets closer to me. It's eerily quiet. Where are the Krauts?

"Fire" A heavily German accented voice booms as if on cue. Fuck. A barrage of bullets come hurtling towards us. Shit. I need to find cover now. Frantically I search for a place to use as the bullets can only miss me so many times and judging by the number of shells in the ground and the amount of dust spewing up they will hit me soon. Ping. One of the fellas stood running near me is shot and crumples to the ground. Ping and another man falls. I see Luz and Welsh. They have found cover behind a bombed out building. Thank fuck. Trying to avoid being hit I sprint towards them. Luz now peeking round the corner and shooting a couple times them moving back. As my back slams against the wall in between Welsh and Luz I notice that the others aren't following behind like they should. Where the fuck are they?

"God dammit" Luz exclaims after shooting at the machine gunning Krauts situated in the cafés open shutter clad windows.

"Where the fuck is everybody?" Welsh yells just as confused and pissed as I am. I shrug in response as I step around Luz and fire a few times at the guy in the bottom right window. Got him. Shots fly swiftly next to me closely, much too close for my liking. I jump back against the wall.

"Where'd everybody go?" Welsh asks again.

"I have no idea!" Luz screams exasperated.

"They've fucking left us" I yell annoyed. There is no way the three of us can take on these Krauts alone. I step around Luz once more and let out a few shots. The characteristic whoosh of bullets flying close to me fills my ears. I step back behind cover as Luz starts firing again. As far as I can gather we are the only three firing at the krauts whilst the rest of the Krauts fire at us. My eyes watch the road that the rest of 1st platoon should be coming down still no one. Jesus fucking Christ, Luz leans back against the wall. I step out take a few shots at the krauts then jump back. We need back up now. Welsh next to me is looking angrily towards the road. Suddenly the sounds of gunfire intensify and a mix of guns can be heard. I snap my face towards the road once more as Luz leans back into cover. The faces of Easy come into view, each men frantically running and firing trying to find sufficient cover, fan-fucking-tastic. Some fall down after being struck I recognise a couple of them; I don't know them personally but have played craps with them once or twice. It's heart-breaking to see men get hurt or killed but now is the time to focus, so I push all emotion back, concentrate on shooting, killing and surviving. We need to take the objective.

Luz continues to shoot at krauts, the job slightly easier now that the others are involved. Just as I bend around Luz to have another go of killing the krauts a grenade detonates near the bottom windows of the café.

"Ah shit!" Luz swears as the three of us duck behind the concrete wall as plumes of debris fall upon us. When the shit finally stops falling I look up to see Welsh looking down the road at the town then at the road where some of the fellas are firing from. He quickly signals to our troops to cease fire. A few distant yells of the command can be heard and the volume of bullets decreases.

"I need some covering fire, ready Luz, Larsen?" with that he reaches for a grenade and pulls the pin. "Okay I'm out" Luz shoots a few times as Welsh sprints across the road. As Luz stops firing I start. Welsh reaches the open window where some of the enemy are shooting from. He ducks as he launches the live grenade through the opening. It explodes spewing clouds of dust everywhere, Welsh stands up from crouching underneath the windowsill. He managed to kill the main MG-42 that was firing up the road. Now's the time for me and Luz to move forward the krauts in the café are gone and we need to clear the other buildings. Luz goes first dashing towards the café door jumping over a mound of rubble on the way. I follow suit. We stand inside the darkened entry way, clutching my gun to my chest. I scan the area to see if an officer is around to give us any orders. The sound of gunfire continues to ring through my ears.

The noise levels have increased tenfold, with both sides shooting various guns and men yelling in pain, shouts for medics and orders from the officers it's a wonder any of us can think straight. Well we are trained for this; close combat is the nature of the beast that is paratrooping, I never thought I'd say this but thanks Sobel your hard ass training has paid off.

Welsh joins us from the street stepping into the threshold of the door, just as he does this my two buddies Lieb and Tip come sprinting down the road in front of us, Tip clinging on to the bazooka slung over his right arm, Lieb clutching his carbine for dear life. Boy I'm glad to see they haven't been shot or killed so far. The number of wounded seems to be increasing.

When the two fellas reach us Welsh looks at them "Tipper take Liebgott start clearing these buildings two at a house" he orders as he signals to our left and raises his fingers to show the number 2.

The three of us left in the door way run towards the other buildings still dodging enemy fire. Lieb and Tipper head further down the road as Luz spots Hoobler. They pick a house and throw a grenade in before entering. I stick with Welsh. We reach a battered building, with the downstairs window open. I crouch down in front of it as Welsh crouches near the door. On the count of three I throw a grenade through the window. German shouts are heard then a bang. The shouting stops. Welsh kicks in the door and signals for me to search the upper floor. I cautiously open the first door. No one is in here. I open the second door. Again no one here. As I open the last door gunshots ring out from downstairs. There must have been someone still in the house. You only shoot when someone is there. I quickly slam open the last door and see that no one is in the bedroom. Hurtling down the stairs rifle poised my feet slam to a stop. Welsh is fine.

"Come on let's move to the next one" he says as we step out of the building and move onto what appears to be a shop.

I slam the door open this time as Welsh throws a grenade through the door, once again a few moments after it detonates we enter. I step through first a German fumbling with his gun greets me. My finger already sitting on the trigger pushes down, bang! And the kraut collapses in a pool of blood. We repeat the process of checking rooms and killing krauts. Once done we step out as we do a loud explosion a few buildings away rocks us. What the fuck? Boom another explosion, clouds of smoke and dust billow up. Men are sprinting everywhere, trying to escape the carnage the unfortunate ones that get hit are flung in the air like bowling pins. 88s are effective.

"They got us zeroed! Spread it out! Spread it out!" you can say that again. Me and Welsh start running away from the mortar fire with many other troopers around us doing the same. A familiar figure runs out from one of the houses followed by another familiar face. A bout of gunfire comes from a building in front of us.

"Tipper use your bazooka and clear those buildings straight ahead, take Liebgott" Welsh orders to the men in front of us, they nod and run towards the shops. Welsh turns to me "Larsen help me clear this building here" Welsh orders. I go into the same trance like state I was in when we were at Brécourt. Knocking through doors and shooting on instinct. The loud explosions from the mortars are still booming, whilst the gunfire rages on. An explosion close by rocks the structure we are in slightly. Heavy footsteps coming from downstairs alert me to our platoon leader's presence.

"Come on let's go" he yells over the noise. We go left out of the building. Now the damage of the mortar that hit seconds ago becomes clear. The front of one of the shops is completely blown out. Piles of rubble everywhere, broken glass, concrete and wood, there is no way anyone would have survived that hit if they were inside. As we round the corner the doorway comes into view. That's when time seems to stand still. On the ground are two men. Two Easy Company men. Two very familiar easy company men and one no longer looked like a man. Oh Jesus! Oh fuck Tipper. Welsh sprints towards Lieb and Tip, when he reaches Tip he opens up his first aid kit and sticks him with morphine, I freeze for a second. How? Why? What happened? Thoughts swim through my head. I knew this could happen of course it's a war, but I never wanted to think that my best friend, the first man I spoke to when I joined was going to be the first casualty amongst my close pals. Shaking my head I snap out of it. Tipper needs me, Lieb needs me.

* * *

Blood oozes out of the left side of his face, his eye welded shut. Burnt flesh and gushing blood. Both legs badly mangled a grizzly sight of muscle and bone. Smoking holes in his boots. How the fuck is he alive? He is barely alive though. Welsh and Lieb support his shoulders as I attempt to hold his legs steady as we head towards the aid station that's been set up in a barn. I don't want to cause any more damage to his broken body so my movements are cautious.

"Nearly there Tip, you're gonna be ok buddy" I say reassuringly. A quiet groan is all I get in response. When we finally reach the station after what feels like hours but is actually minutes medics quickly snatch his body out of our arms and begin to work on his many injuries. Welsh runs off again into the fight. I am left standing outside the door looking down at my bloodstained hands.

"Do you think he'll be ok?" Lieb's voice breaks though the now dying noise of the battlefield. Looking up at Lieb's blood covered face and body I don't know what to say. He probably will die. Both legs are badly broken, he's lost vast amounts of blood and his left side of his face is completely destroyed. No stop thinking like that Jimmie, he is strong, he has fought well against the Krauts he will fight to survive this. Shaking away my inner argument I try to focus my thoughts. I have done everything I can do to help my fallen friend, he is in the hands of the medics and god now, I need to focus on my job and the men that still out there need the help of their sergeant.

"I don't know Lieb but we need to get back" I finally answer his question. He looks at me a moment a swirl of emotions in his eyes, anger, sorrow pain but mainly determination. He nods before wiping his hands on his pants then grabbing his rifle that was slung over his shoulder.

"Let's go kill some fucking krauts"


	12. Chapter Twelve: Sleep

**A/N I can only apologise a thousand times over for not posting any sooner. A lot of personal issues that I won't bore you with anyway I promise I will never be missing so long again. Thanks for everyone whose read, commented followed and fave this story whilst I was missing. This chapter is shit, I haven't reread it or spellchecked but I wanted to get one out there. I apologise for the shortness and shittyness of this chapter I will improve it next chapter it's been hard getting back into writing after so long being missing, hopefully you will continue to read this story. Thanks for reading and enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Sleep**

**D-Day + 6 1944 Carentan France**

"Hey Jimmie did ya hear about Blithe?" a voice asks from above me. My eyes shoot open and my arms reach up on instinct, bracing in anticipation of the harsh sunlight. The light doesn't greet me however; instead the summer sun is blocked off by the dark haired radioman stood above me.

"Can't you see I'm trying to sleep here?" I mumble sleepily ignoring what he said. I fall asleep for one fucking minute and Luz has to ruin it. Has he been taking pointers from Hoob? That's twice now I've tried to get at least ten minutes shut eye and each time someone wakes me!

"Yeah I know but thought you'd want to hear about what happened to Blithe!" Luz loudly exclaims. Sighing I haul myself up from the stone floor leaving my pack and helmet on the ground. Luz at this point has fished a cigarette out from god knows where and has begun smoking it. He leans against one of the sides of the now destroyed buildings that line the small back alley of a now more peaceful Carentan. I mirror his actions pulling a smoke from behind my ear and lighting it with my lighter I lock eyes with him.

"What about Blithe, he's not dead is he? Last time I saw him he was fine" worry clear in my tone, I can't be dealing with losing another man, especially a member of my platoon.

"Nah but according to Perco he went blind. He said that he couldn't see anything." Luz says between drags. "Apparently Winters was gonna send him back to England…"

"Shit where is he now? Is he ok" my outburst cuts Luz's sentence off.

"He's fine like I said, Winters was going to ship him back to Aldbourne but he suddenly could see again." Luz finishes as he takes his last drag of his smoke throwing the stub on the ground.

"Jesus I wonder what caused that? He's defiantly ok though?"

"Yeah he's…"

"1st platoon on your feet tactical columns" Luz doesn't get to finish his sentence as the shout of our Lt from the main square of the town stops him, looks like we are on the move again.

"Let's go" sighing I push myself away from the wall.

"Duty calls" George adds with a small frown on his face.

Stumping out my nearly finished cigarette I pick up my helmet, gun and pack from the ground. Luz waits for me to finish adjusting my bag before setting off towards the rest of Easy. We walk the small distance in silence. Our boots echoing on the hard ground, when we reach the others I notice Blithe amongst the already moving group. He seems ok, a little tiered and worried maybe, but that's understandable. I'll have to speak to him later. Luz exchanges a look with me before nodding and walking towards Hoob and Perco near the front of the column. My eyes scan the crowd till I spot the figure of our Lt who is in the middle of gathering up the stragglers before he heads to the front of the group, quickening my pace in order to reach him I open my mouth to call out to him.

"Where are we going to Sir?" Welsh turns round my eyes meeting his as he dismisses the privates he was talking to. He indicates with his head that we should start walking seeing as the rest of 1st Platoon has nearly left the town centre now. I match Welsh's fast pace as we catch up to the others.

"We're pushing west seeing as the everywhere else is flooded." Welsh explains as we walk past several men reaching near the front of the line I debate on whether to mention Blithe.

"Sir, do you know what happened with Blithe today?" curiosity getting the better of me, that and I am his Sergeant, Welsh pauses a second before opening his mouth.

"Not really I'm going to speak to him about it later, for now just keep walking north and keep your men in order" Welsh commands, I nod in response as he walks away from me at a fast speed towards Lt Winters. Looking at the men near me I notice the back of my three friends. Falling into my position slightly behind them we begin the walk across the fields.

* * *

My boots slosh on the muddy grass, every part of me and my kit is soaked, everyone is soaked for that matter. This fucking rain better ease up soon, the thick hedgerows and undergrowth isn't providing much protection from the harsh weather. Internally sighing I readjust my hand on my rifle. The mass of men that are walking in formation are staying relatively silent apart from the odd conversation breaking out. Perco's impatient nature is beginning to bug the usually easy going Luz, Hoob and me.

"Hey, Luz how far we going" Perco speaks up from his place in front of me. He glances between Luz and Hoob.

"Oh, Jesus Christ, I don't know Frank. I don't know. Until they tell us to stop" Luz says annoyed, his patience completely gone now. Who can blame him, we've been marching in the pouring rain, towards the enemy and Perco keeps whining like a little Kid.

"High ground. There's high ground up ahead" Hoob correctly states as he looks around the field and path ahead.

"He's right" I chip in causing Hoob and Luz to glance back and grin at me. Perco continues with his rant after he glances back at me for a few seconds scowling.

"Ok geniuses answer me this then" Frank pauses as he looks between the three of us. Hoob looks amused and Luz's grin has managed to become even bigger. My lips turn up into a smirk. "Why is Easy company the only company who's either at the front of an advance, or like now, exposed and the far edge of the line?" He has a point to be honest.

"To keep you on your toes" Hoob retorts.

"No that's not what I'm saying" Perco bites back frustrated at the young privates logic moving his arms around to make his point. "I'm saying…I'm saying that we are never in the middle were the fifth of nine companies of this regiment Able through Item. Think of it" Perco finishes.

"See there?" Hoob points towards the high ground ahead. "You see that…" Shit, the sound of machine gunfire cuts Hoob's sentence short. I slam my body on flat on the floor pulling my rifle into a firing position, the rest of the fellas doing the same.

"Incoming!" A voice yells from somewhere. All hell breaks loose. Multiple rounds of gunfire from the fields make several of the men panic.

"Contact right! Get in the hedgerow!" Welsh commands over the chaos, aiming and pulling the trigger towards the gunfire I slide towards the wet muddy embankment, relying on the thick bushes and mud wall for cover. Hoob and Perco land near me.

"See what I mean?" Hoob says to Perco as he shoots.

"Now's not the time Hoob" my finger pressing the trigger as I shoot a Kraut, killing him instantly. Hoob shuts up and continues firing.

"Right here! Sargent More! Stay Low" Winters yells from somewhere, I'm too focused on killing the Krauts that are on the opposite hedgerow. "Luz get down here with the radio!"

* * *

"Why the fuck are they singing?" Hoob complains for the thousandth time next to me. It is baffling to her such happy sounding German singing coming from the opposite side of the field. It's a cold, damp night nothing to be singing about.

"I don't know Hoob, but complaining isn't gonna stop them so try and get some sleep" with that Hoob leans his head against the muddy wall of the trench we dug earlier and closes his eyes. Finally I can get some shut eye. Moving my pack and reposition myself into a more comfortable spot, closing my eyes the sound of a branch snapping not far from our hole makes me jump on edge. Pulling my refile up I scan the dark surroundings. Another snap closer to us makes me more anxious.

"Flash" I call out hopefully it's not a German coming to slaughter us.

"Thunder" comes the reply from our lieutenant. The figure of Welsh emerges from thick foliage a smile on his face; I lower my weapon as he slides down our trench. Surprisingly Hoob is asleep. "Larsen" Welsh greets me as he places his rifle and helmet on the floor.

"Any news sir?" I ask looking at him expectantly. We've had no new orders for a while. The last was after the firefight died down a few hours ago with only a few bouts of machine gun fire occasionally coming from their hedgerow.

"No, we stay in our hedgerow they stay in theirs" He says as he takes a swig from his canteen.

"Have you spoken to Blithe yet?" Welsh takes another gulp of liquid before putting the cap back on and putting it away and meeting my gaze.

"No I was just going to see him now. Try and get some sack time, you need it Larsen" With that he stands up collects his rifle, puts on his helmet, climbs out of our trench and heads towards Blithe. Closing my eyes once again I quickly drift off to sleep.

"Hey Jimmie wake up!" Hoob's voice rudely awakes me, his hand shaking my shoulder. Fuck will I ever be able to get at least one decent sleep in this godforsaken war.

"What Hoob?!" my voice cracks a little. Opening my eyes I see that it's still night time. Hoob's confused face stares back at me.

"I heard screaming coming from that way" He points towards 3rd Platoons trenches. "I think it was Lieb and Tab, they were screaming for a medic" shit one of them is injured. First Tipper now Lieb or Tab, please God don't let them be badly hurt or dead.

"When was this?" I ask fully alert now, all grogginess of sleep gone with the seriousness of the situation.

"About five minutes ago, it took me a while to wake you" Hoob sheepishly admits as he looks away from me towards the direction of the trench where the screams came from.

"I'm going to have a look, you stay hear" I order as I haul myself up the slippery slope. Weaving through the thick foliage I glance into each passing trench until I finally reach the one Tab was in earlier a large tree looms over it. The outline of two figures are sat in the trench, Lieb's loud angry voice becomes clearer the closer I get.

"…you dint just fucking shoot without checking first! Jesus Christ!" Joe scolds the worried looking private.

"What the hell happened Joe?" Lieb turns away from the young private and looks towards me. When I finally reach the two men I notice drying blood stains on Lieb's hands and clothing. Where's Tab?

"Private Smith here stabbed Tab" Shit I hope it's not fatal.

"I'm so sorry he looked like a kraut, he was wearing a kraut poncho and…"

"Save it kid, I'm sick of your excuses" Lieb cuts off the rambling man. "You shouldn't have done that"

"Both of you be quite" I snap now is not the time for us to be at each other's throats. Both men stop and look towards me. "Lieb's right you fucked up but there's nothing you can do now. It's been done. Just never do it again." Private Smith looks at me and nods his eyes full of guilt. "Go find your platoon leader and explain what happened" I order. He quickly scurries off towards another trench.

"How is he and where is he now?" I ask turning my attention to a pissed off Joe.

"He was ok, wasn't that bad, Doc took him on a jeep to the aid station." Joe explains as he sits down pulling out his pack of smokes, offering me one. I gladly accept and slide down next to him, pulling my lighter and lighting both sticks. Taking a long drag I relish in the small comfort the tobacco gives me. Thank god he is going to live. I don't think I could cope with losing him as well as Tipper.

"Speirs came by before to see what was going on" Lieb speaks up after a period of silence. Smoke pluming out of his mouth as he spoke.

"What did he say?" Speirs was a bit of a mystery to me. The few times I've come into contact with him he's said very little. There have been rumours about him shooting kraut prisoners on D-day.

"He didn't say much, he asked what happened and then told Smith to be more careful and said something about being less jumpy and then left" Lieb says as he flicks his finished smoke to the side and stands up. "I better go back to my trench I'm due to go on patrol soon"

"Yeah I better get aback too. I don't trust Hoob on his own" I joke as I jump up the embankment after Joe. He gives a small smile as he heads off towards his trench as I head towards mine.

* * *

**0530 D-Day + 7 1944 Outskirts of Carentan France**

The morning dew seeps into the knees of my ODs as I kneel down beside Welsh. We are finally going to attack.

"We don't know what they've got we may be attacking a weaker force, possibly more paratroopers" Welsh looks up from the clipboard, glancing round at me, Martin, Hoob, Perco, Luz, Martin, Malark and Gonorrhoea.

"And you know how they can be" Hoob jokes, causing Welsh and a few others give a small smile.

"Fire and manoeuvre" Welsh pauses to glance around the group again "That's the name of the game. Fire and manoeuvre." He continues. "Dog and Fox companies will be on our left flank moving with us." Welsh folds away our orders before looking at us to make sure we listened to his orders. I shake my head as most of the other fellas do the same. "Let's make them holler"

Standing up I notice Perco glancing at one of his many watches.

"It's 9:30 in the evening back home must be…" the deafening sound of mortar fire cuts Frank short.

"Mortar!" slamming myself down I pull my gun up into a shooting stance.

"Incoming! Everybody in the hole!" Welsh screams at us as we all scramble into position. Fuck this is going to be one hell of a fight.


End file.
